Finally, let's take a look at the area where a signing is most likely going to be needed.

Freddie Ladapo and George Hirst shared the majority of the minutes last season with Hirst becoming the main striker and Ladapo coming off the bench once the former got up to speed having completed his January loan move from Leicester.

Pre-January, Ladapo was dovetailing with Tyreece John-Jules. With Leicester relegated, a permanent move for Hirst could now prove to be tricky. Jamie Vardy is now the ripe old age of 36, Kelechi Iheanacho only has a year left on his contract and Patson Daka hasn't really impressed following his £30 million move from RB Salzburg.

This means Hirst could be given the chance to lead the line for the Foxes in the Championship. Because of this and because we know what both he and John-Jules are all about, this blog will look at alternative options should a permanent move for him become unachievable.

The Bench Booster – Sam Surridge
Surridge is the definition of an impact player from the bench. He has 110 (Premier League and Championship) appearances across the last four seasons with but fewer than a quarter of them (26) starts.

He joined Nottingham Forest in January of 2022 for a fee rumoured to be around £2.2 million and that is where most of his starts came.

He was an influential figure in both play-off semi-final matches, scoring in the second leg. He’s struggled for time in the Premier League due to Forest’s enormous number of signings and with only a year left on his contract and Forest surely needing to offload some players before attempting to strengthen again, he could be available for a price similar to the one previously paid for him.

A chance to finally become the main man at a new club could appeal to the player himself. At 6ft 3in tall he would provide a lot of similar attributes to those Hirst gave to Ipswich at the end of last season.

Surridge's goals per minute ratio of a goal every 147 minutes in the 2021/22 season is also very impressive considering most of his appearances were off the bench. By comparison Hirst scored a goal every 184 minutes this campaign.

The England U20 starlet – Daniel Jebbison
Jebbison is maybe not as proven as Hirst but is a 19-year-old with big potential, having featured for England in this summer's U20 World Cup. He is also eligible to play for Canada but is yet to make a decision on his international future.

He’s been in and out of the Sheffield United squad this season mainly having to make do with substitute appearances behind Ollie McBurnie, Rhian Brewster and Iliman Ndiaye.

Another tall, powerful, pacy striker who would stretch defences and create spaces for the attacking midfielders in behind, Jebbison will be hoping to make the breakthrough and have a good pre-season to force his way into Sheffield United's Premier League squad but should that not happen the highly rated prospect could well be made available for a Championship loan move.

The Cherry on the Cake – Antoine Semenyo
If the first two targets were more in the Hirst type of striker, Semenyo falls into the John-Jules mould. With quick feet and excellent dribbling ability, Semenyo can play either up top or on either wing.

He comes with plenty of Championship experience, playing 125 games for Bristol City (21 goals, 22 assists) before moving to Bournemouth in January in a £10 million deal.

Semenyo played 90 minutes on his debut but then immediately dropped to the bench as Dominic Solanke was preferred by Gary O'Neil having recovered from a knee injury.

The Ghanaian didn’t even make the squad for the last three games of the season with Bournemouth having achieved safety, which could indicate that he will be available either permanently or on loan at the start of next season.

The Dutch Marksman – Dylan Vente
Could this be the season Ipswich find another Dutch superstar to follow on from the footsteps of Muhren, Thijssen and more recently Reuser and Wilnis?

If Town are shopping abroad for a striker then Vente could fit the bill. He finished as second top goalscorer in the Eerste Divisie (Dutch second tier) in a Roda JC team that finished 15th.

His 21 goals were spread across (right foot – 13, left foot – five and headers –three) whilst he also won two penalties and contributed six assists.

Vent would likely be available for a reasonable price. Roda JC picked him up on a free following his release by Feyenoord and he has scored 51 goals in 98 games, incredibly impressive numbers at any level.

In addition to his goals, he also works incredibly hard and has a strong pressing game, he would be unproven in the Championship but his goal record alone could make him worth a punt

The Last Dance - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Just been released by AC Milan... but sadly he announced his retirement on Monday.

SpiritOfJohn added 18:27 - Jun 11 Thanks for the informative series of articles. It will be interesting to find out if any of these options are real targets when the transfer window opens.
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Europablue added 10:51 - Jun 12 It feels like we're in the phony war stage of the summer. I usually try to keep myself busy with other things in this period because there is just no information coming out mostly because players have been on holiday, etc.
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algarvefan added 23:33 - Jun 13 ad_wilkin a very interesting set of articles, very nicely put together mate. Of course it's all going to be speculation at this time of the year but I will be interested to see if any of your possibles become a reality. Thank you.
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BlueSwede added 16:59 - Jun 14 Zlatan would have been impossible even if he would have continued playing. As a swede I wouldn't mind seeing Anthony Elanga in the side though. Looks like he is on his way from Man U to RB Leipzig in Germany, but maybe McKenna with his United-connections could change his mind...
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ronnyd added 18:13 - Jul 7 Only just read these. Very good series of blogs. Thank you.
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Gforce added 18:27 - Aug 10 Semenyo would be a good addition if a deal could be done,would offer something different to Hirst and Ladapo.
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