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Report: Gary O’Neill wants Ipswich Town to sign £8m forward
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- Report: Gary O’Neill wants Ipswich Town to sign £8m forward
Report: Gary O'Neill wants Ipswich Town to sign £8m forward
Ipswich Town Transfer News: Gary O'Neill Eyes Tom Fellows as First Major Move
O'Neill begins shaping Ipswich squad
Gary O'Neill's arrival at Ipswich Town always promised movement. A new manager, a three-year contract, a club returning to the Premier League, a summer stretching out in front of them with all its danger and possibility.
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According to SportsBoom , one of his first major transfer targets could be Southampton winger Tom Fellows, a player O'Neill is said to have admired for some time.
Fellows, still only 22, feels like the sort of signing designed not merely for survival, but for identity. Ipswich cannot afford to approach the Premier League as tourists. They need legs, imagination, bravery and players willing to run at full-backs when the air gets thin.
Photo: IMAGO
Fellows fits Ipswich transfer profile
The Birmingham-born attacker joined Southampton from West Bromwich Albion in August 2025, in a deal worth a reported £8million plus £2million in add-ons. He signed a four-year contract, which means Southampton have protection, but their failure to win promotion has changed the landscape.
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Fellows played 37 Championship matches last season and was one of Southampton's brighter attacking sparks. His appeal is obvious. He can operate wide, inside, or as a more advanced creator. He carries the ball well, has pace, and brings the directness Premier League managers increasingly crave.
Premier League chance may tempt winger
SportsBoom report that Everton and Leeds United had already shown interest earlier this year, which underlines the wider admiration for Fellows. He is also a UEFA European Under-21 Championship winner with England, which adds further weight to the feeling that his ceiling may be higher than the Championship.
Before Southampton, Fellows made 85 senior appearances for West Brom and was named the club's Player of the Year twice. That matters. This is not a prospect built only on academy promise. He has played, carried responsibility and produced under pressure.
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For Ipswich, the question is whether Southampton can be persuaded. For Fellows, the question may be simpler. If Premier League football arrives now, does he wait?
Ipswich could make early transfer statement
O'Neill will know Ipswich need more than enthusiasm. They need difference-makers. Fellows would not arrive as the finished article, but that may be precisely the point.
He would give Ipswich thrust, unpredictability and a sense that the club are not simply trying to patch holes. They are trying to build something.
SportsBoom deserve credit for the original information, and if Ipswich do advance this pursuit, it could become one of the more revealing deals of their summer. Not because Fellows is a superstar, but because he would tell us what O'Neill wants this Ipswich side to become.
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From an Ipswich supporter's perspective, this is exactly the kind of link that gets the mind moving. Tom Fellows is young, quick, technically sharp and already tested across a proper Championship season. He is not some vague punt from a foreign market, where supporters have to rely on grainy clips and hopeful scouting reports. Ipswich fans have seen enough of the Championship to know what a dangerous wide player looks like.
There will be caution, naturally. Southampton paid good money for him, he has time left on his contract and they will not want to lose one of their best young players cheaply. Ipswich cannot afford to get carried away and spend Premier League money without discipline.
Still, this feels like the right sort of ambition. Fellows would give O'Neill a player who can stretch teams, create moments and grow with the club. Ipswich need signings who arrive hungry, not comfortable. Fellows fits that mould.
If this is the tone of O'Neill's first window, young, energetic, attack-minded and purposeful, then Portman Road may have reason to feel quietly encouraged.
