It seems quite remarkable that Ipswich are interested in three players from Sunderland, given the fact that the side from the North East failed to make it through the play-off’s, and will be playing us again next season. If we can believe the rumours, then the Blues are after Charlie Wyke, Max Power and Josh Hawkes, who is a promising young forward.
The Black Cats did not even make it to the play-off final at Wembley, having been ousted by Lincoln City over two legs in the semis. This is perhaps why they are looking to off-load.
All that being said, I do like the look of this. Twenty-eight-year-old Wyke is out of contract at the Stadium of Light this summer and netted 31 times for them last season, and that is almost as much as our whole squad scored! He joined the Wearsiders from Bradford for £250,000 in 2018 and was an immediate success. Only Peterborough’s Jonson Clarke-Harris scored more than him in League One last term, and he has a scoring record on a par with Daryl Murphy at his peak!
Former Sunderland captain Max Power is also interesting Town apparently and has been released by the club after they failed to get promotion to the Championship. Power, who was born in Birkenhead on Merseyside, started his career at Tranmere before moving to Wigan in 2015. The 27-year-old previously played for Ipswich boss Paul Cook at Wigan when they were promoted from League One, so our interest in him seems very plausible.
The third player of interest to Town is a guy called Josh Hawkins. He joined the Black Cats in 2020 on a two-year deal but has made only one senior so far. He is a 22-year-old attacking midfielder who has been a prolific goalscorer for their under 23 side. Of the three he is probably the least known, but he is a player of real potential who is adaptable and can play on the wing if required.
Whether anything comes of this remains to be seen, but I do think Town should be looking at fresh talent, and not an ageing 38-year-old striker who is earning close to 30,000 a week. Yes, he has been good in his day and continues to score goals, but the question is, for how much longer?
