The Blues finished 19th in the top flight, returning to the Championship after just one season. Despite that, they were among the top spenders in the country, strengthening most areas of their squad.
Many players joined after impressing in the second tier. The majority are still young, with plenty of room to develop. There’s a separate argument about whether or not it was the right recruitment strategy to avoid a bottom-three finish.
But Maguire believes that last summer will put them in a strong position to bounce back at the first time of asking, especially with further arrivals to come ahead of the new campaign.
“Ipswich’s approach, to a certain extent, was to build for promotion in 2025/26. To have that in the back of their minds,” he told the East Anglian Daily Times and Ipswich Star.
“That might sound harsh, but remember that a couple of years ago, Ipswich were in League One. They did fantastically well in 2023/24, exceeded expectations. That probably left them a wee bit short in the strength of the squad that was being promoted.
CEO Mark Ashton promised that Town would be ambitious in the transfer marketCEO Mark Ashton promised that Town would be ambitious in the transfer market (Image: PA)
“It’s a horrible thing to say, but £100m doesn’t get you very much in the modern Premier League. The average spending in the division was somewhere in the region of £130m, £140m.
“That’s indicative that, just to stay still, the established clubs normally have to spend considerable sums.
“Therefore, for Ipswich, being promoted – yes, it was a record level of expenditure and that’s to the credit of the owners, that they didn’t do a Luton in the sense that they spent £20m, essentially banked the money and used it to build a new stadium. We’ve seen what’s happened to them as a consequence.
“There was a structure, there was a strategy of recruiting young players with promise. As we’ve seen, some of them have impressed in the Premier League and therefore won’t necessarily be with Ipswich in 2025/26, but that’s part of the broader trading model.
“The squad, I think, it arguably stronger than the one that was promoted in 2023/24. I think you’ve got to look at it from that perspective.
“The fixtures are going to be announced in a couple of weeks, and then we changed. We have this sort of ‘Twilight Zone’ as fans between the end of the season and the fixtures being announced.
The Blues will face a drop in revenue after relegationThe Blues will face a drop in revenue after relegation (Image: PA)
“As soon as they come out, you start to plan the year ahead, you’re refreshing Twitter and social media feeds to see if you’ve been linked with buying any players. We get into the giddiness and the lunacy of men of a certain age, who should know better, getting interested in the thickness of the pinstripes when the new kit is announced, and so on.”
When comparing Premier League sides to those in the Championship, there’s a clear difference in revenue.
The English top flight is watched all around the world, generating significant revenue as a result. There’s more interest domestically and abroad, which naturally sees more money coming into the club. What will Town’s income look like in a lower division next season?
“Based on my calculations, Ipswich will have generated probably £110m, £112m worth of broadcast revenue in the Premier League in 2024/25,” Maguire explained.
“That will drop to around £47m – the first year of the parachute payments. Should they have a second season in the Championship, that will drop to around £38m or £39m.
“Matchday income, which was just over £10m in the season they were promoted, I would expect that to be replicated in 2025/26. Commercial income, which was probably in the region of £30m in the Premier League season, I’d expect that to drop.
Liam Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich for £30mLiam Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich for £30m (Image: Ross Halls)
“Players will have had clauses in contracts which will take into account relegation. I think they can expect a decrease.
“I was talking to a chief executive, who said that his club normally tries to factor in a 20-25% reduction in wages.
“Some of the more high-profile players will leave. Of course, [Liam] Delap has gone already. That’s the nature of football. Players want to play at the highest level and earn the highest wages.
“I don’t think anybody can object to that. On a personal level, we’d all want to do the same.”