The regular Championship season came to an end last weekend and Ipswich Town confirmed their promotion to the Premier League by finishing in second place.
At the start of the day, Middlesbrough, Millwall, and Ipswich all had the chance to earn automatic promotion, but it was the Tractor Boys who sealed their place in the top-flight with a 3-0 win over Queens Park Rangers
They join Coventry City in being the first two teams promoted to the Premier League this season, with one of Middlesbrough, Southampton, Millwall, and Hull set to join them after the play-offs.
ipswich-championship-promotion-premier-league-o'shea
The focus for the Sky Blues and the Tractor Boys will now quickly turn to what they need to do in the upcoming summer transfer window, which opens for business next month.
Staying up in the Premier League as a newly-promoted side is not easy, despite Leeds and Sunderland's success this term, and both clubs will need to be active in the market.
What Ipswich and Coventy need to do this summer to avoid Premier League relegation
As obvious as it sounds, Ipswich and Coventry both need to dip into the market to sign a new centre-forward to lead the line for them in the top-flight next term.
Dominic-Calvert-Lewin-1
Sunderland, with Brian Brobbey, and Leeds, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, both signed physical number nines who have played key roles in keeping them up, scoring 18 Premier League goals between them.
Liam Delap, who now plays for Chelsea, gave his best effort to keep Ipswich up when he scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League games for Ipswich in the 2024/25 campaign.
24/25 PL Liam Delap
Appearances 37
xG 9.34
Goals 12
Big chances created 3
Assists 2
Dribbles completed per game 1.1
He was the focal point of their attack and carried the team up the pitch with his powerful running, but the Tractor Boys did not build a good enough team around him to get the job done.
Meanwhile, Coventry once had Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored 21 goals in all competitions for Arsenal this season, in their team when he scored 21 goals in the 2022/23 Championship campaign for the Sky Blues.
Now, both teams need to find their new versions of both of those players and build a competitive squad around their new centre-forwards to have a chance of staying in the Premier League.
Coventry-City-Viktor-Gyokeres
Ipswich and Coventry battling to sign £15m Championship striker
Ipswich and Coventry are both reportedly interested in a deal to sign Swansea City marksman Zan Vipotnik in the summer transfer window, and he has shades of both Delap and Gyokeres.
vipotnik-swansea
The Slovenian number nine, who is valued at £15m by the Welsh outfit, ended the 2025/26 Championship with the Golden Boot after scoring 23 times for the Swans.
|25/26 Championship top goalscorers|
|Player|Goals|
|---|
|Zan Vipotnik|23|
|Oli McBurnie|17|
|Haji Wright|17|
|Jack Clarke|16|
|Josh Windass|16|
He scored six more than Coventry's top goalscorer, Haji Wright, and seven more goals than Ipswich's top goalscorer, Jack Clarke, which suggests that he would arrive as the biggest goal threat at either club this summer.
The most impressive part of Vipotnik's goal return is that he only had 13.42 xG and five penalties, whilst Gyokeres scored 21 goals from 19.52 xG and three penalties in the 2022/23 Championship season for Coventry.
This suggests that the Swansea star is a clinical finisher, just as the former Ipswich and Coventry stars were for their respective clubs, who rarely passes up an opportunity to find the back of the net.
Like Delap and Gyokeres, the Slovenia international is a strong number nine who likes to duel with central defenders and put his body about, ranking in the top 25% of strikers for aerial duels won (64) in the league.
Vipotnik could be well suited to making the step up to the physicality and intensity of the Premier League, therefore, because he is not a weak striker who cannot compete in duels against strong defenders.
zan-vipotnik-swansea
He could be Ipswich's new Delap or Coventry's new Gyokeres, due to both his physical and technical qualities, and that makes the quoted price of £15m seem like a bargain ahead of the summer transfer window.
Vipotnik has the potential to be the key piece that either club needs to survive in the top-flight, as he is a clinical finisher and lethal goalscorer, but Ipswich and Coventry must supplement their striker signing by signing players around them who can ensure that they are competitive.
Coventry City manager Frank Lampard celebrates with the trophy after winning the Championship Related
[Coventry now plotting move to sign ex-Luton star who Frank Lampard called "gold"](https://www.footballfancast.com/coventry-now-plotting-transfer-move-ross-barkley-frank-lampard/ "Coventry now plotting move to sign ex-Luton star who Frank Lampard called "gold"")
The Sky Blues are making plans ahead of their Premier League return.