According to reports, Ipswich Town has reached an agreement to take Ben Godfrey, a defender for Atalanta, on loan.
The Blues’ interest was initially made public yesterday, and negotiations are still ongoing to secure a deal. Since then, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that it’s “here we go,” saying that the first portion of the medical was finished today and that paperwork is currently being shared.
The 26-year-old Godfrey joined Norwich City in 2016 after graduating from York City’s academy. Before joining Everton, he played for four years at Carrow Road. He remained in Merseyside until the previous summer.
After joining Atalanta, the two-cap England international has had difficulty playing consistently in Bergamo. Ipswich appears to have agreed to a contract to bring him to Portman Road until the end of the season, and boss Gian Piero Gasperini has been happy to let him go.
Up to eight clubs reportedly shown interest in Godfrey, but Town manager Kieran McKenna impressed him, according to several sources.
First, let’s talk about the obvious: the Norwich connections. Godfrey spent a large portion of his career in Norfolk as a major player. He won promotion to the Premier League while playing for the Canaries in a few East Anglian derbies. Ultimately, if he succeeds, all of that will be forgotten. It shouldn’t actually be anything I think about.
It will be odd if a defender is the first person to leave because attacking areas were always going to be the first priority heading into this transfer window. At this point, it appears that way, but McKenna will be knowledgeable.
Godfrey is versatile, comfortable playing anywhere in the back line but predominantly a right-sided player. At Everton, he played as a right-back in a back four. At Atalanta, some of his cameos came further up the pitch.
Where does he fit in? At the moment, he seems to fill the void left by Axel Tuanzebe. It remains to be seen what happens when the former Manchester United man returns from injury. There may be one or two question marks over Harry Clarke’s future too.
To me, it suggests that Ipswich may stick to a formation that uses three centre-backs. We can’t forget that McKenna doesn’t like carrying them on the bench. He has quite a few at his disposal now.
As a player, there’s a lot to like about Godfrey. He has Premier League experience and takes up one of the five loan spots in the team. Ipswich have three now and may look for more in the coming weeks.
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