Szmodics Joins Derby On Loan
Monday, 2nd Feb 2026 21:30

Town have confirmed that forward Sammie Szmodics has joined Derby County on loan for the rest of the season.

TWTD revealed earlier this evening that the 30-year-old was closing in on a loan switch to the Rams, a deal sheet having been submitted prior to the 7pm deadline with the clubs having been unable to agree a fee for a permanent move. It’s understood it’s a straight loan with no obligation or option to buy in the summer.

Wrexham, who like Derby made an approach last week, failed to progress their interest, while we understand there were other Championship sides keen on a deadline-day loan.

Szmodics has had a frustrating season with Town due to injury and illness but recently returned to the team and scored his first Portman Road goal in the victory over his old club Blackburn Rovers.

The Blues signed Anis Mehmeti from Bristol City with the Albanian international able to operate as a number 10, where Szmodics has played this season, as well as on the left side of the attack.

Szmodics, who joined Town from Blackburn for £9 million in the summer of 2024, will hope to play and score regularly for the Rams as he looks to win a place in the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of a possible World Cup finals appearance in the summer.

The one-time Colchester youngster won’t be available to play against the Blues when the sides meet at Pride Park on Saturday.

Szmodics’s departure was the only outgoing business on what was generally a quiet deadline day at Portman Road.

The Blues are reported to have made a number of offers to Millwall for 24-year-old winger Femi Azeez, however, claims Town were prepared to break the Lions’ transfer record to make the signing are believed to be wide of the mark. It’s likely Azeez was viewed as a potential replacement for Szmodics.

Town’s only new deadline-day recruits were the expected additions of U21s players Ryan Doherty from Stevenage and Frankie Runham on loan from Chelsea.

Central midfielder Doherty, 17, joins on a permanent basis, while forward Runham, 19, is initially on loan but with the move set to be made permanent in the summer if an option is triggered.

Town had looked for a senior striker over the course of the window but ultimately brought no one in to add to their existing number nine options, George Hirst, Ivan Azon and Chuba Akpom.

It’s understood a number of potential new attacking recruits were put to manager Kieran McKenna but the Blues boss felt none were better than the players already at his disposal.

Town made two senior signings during the window, Mehmeti for an initial £3 million from Bristol City and midfielder Dan Neil on loan from Sunderland.

Elsewhere, former Blues loanee Kalvin Phillips joined Sheffield United on loan from Manchester City.

Photo: Matchday Images

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Dissboyitfc added 22:13 - Feb 2 And what are his strengths blueboy?
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BobbyBell added 22:13 - Feb 2

The usual thoughtless comments as expected. So many on here think they could do better than MA and KM. Gambling is not the Ipswich way but investing is and this has been a sensible window. I'm sure MA and KM have looked hard and worked hard but there is no point in signing for the sake of it. A big money signing would be a financial risk now but IF we do get promoted then in the summer we will have more financial power and be a more attractive proposition. I'd rather have a stable club than a risk taking club. If we fail to get promoted at least our club won't face financial issues and can try again.

Woodbridgian added 22:22 - Feb 2

Overall a pretty underwhelming transfer window finished with what is a very puzzling move. The lack of a suitable striker now isn’t the issue it’s the failure at senior level to deal with it much sooner that is. We knew Delaps realise clause would get triggered before the January window last season so we’ve now gone 3 windows without filling the most obvious gap in the squad. Aston needs to spend less time threatening season ticket holders who don’t turn up for every game and telling everyone how wonderful he is and concentrate of doing his day job. On that point given he now holds both Chairman and CEO roles. (Which is widely acknowledged extremely poor corporate governance)mwho now hols him to account?

Cakeman added 22:25 - Feb 2

Odd decision for a loan out given he is a proven goal scorer if he is played as a number 9.
Sadly for reasons unknown he has never been given a run of games playing as a 9.
This transfer window has certainly been the proverbial damp squib.
I hope we can get promotion but it will be very disappointing if we don’t particularly as this season the Championship is not as strong as it was when we were promoted a couple of years back.
We are also nowhere as strong today as we were back then.
Questions should be asked of management should we fail to go up and our manager cannot continue to dine out on what he did Two years ago. Harsh but true.

billlm added 22:27 - Feb 2 Stato incorrect Azon was a straight loan in the end, no obligation,
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atty added 22:27 - Feb 2 Why let him leave? It was all done so late it had nothing to do with money for a new striker or making space for a new striker. Why not keep him and have a full squad?
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blues1 added 22:28 - Feb 2

My god. The comments on here show just how clueless many of our fans really are. We've made moves to sign a striker. Piroe, Wilson, Bamford, who all had their own perfectly valid reasons not to come.. Please tell me guys, whos out there who we could have signed, whod be guaranteed to be better thsn those we have. You cant, and you know it. So should they have done what you've criticised them for in the past, and signed just anyone, regardless of what they're like?
Clearly Hirst has been poor this,season. No1,would argue otheewise. But probably down to a lack of confidence. Which isnt helped by fans constantly slagging him ogg, both in the ground and on the Internet. Azon has improved of late, and if Akpom was given a run up front, im certain he'd score goals, given the right service. Let's not forget tho, we dont have a problem scoring goals. Most of our goals come from elsewhere. And have done right from the lge1 promotion season.
As for Szmodics, Sure we were all more thsn happy we managed to sign him. But let's be honest, hes been a major disappointment. Only 5 goals in 1.5 seasons and unfortunately, injured more often than not.
As gorcthose slagging km off Oliver no striker being signed. Try reading the story before posting. Clearly states he was offered a number of players, but he felt none were better than we have. Surely you didn't want us to waste money to sign anyone if not an improvement on what we have? And anyone who thinks they could do better on the recruitment, I suggest you offer yourselves to the club, to do that job. You won't of course, bcse you know you couldn't do it.
One last point. If you look at the transfers done today in tge championship, only 1 club have signed a striker. Wrexham., who signed 2. 1 from the team bottom of the table, and one from lge1. Pretty sure none of you would have been happy had we gone down that route.

HopefulBlue69 added 22:33 - Feb 2 @Blues 1....what about Alan Armstrong. Can't tell me that bottom of the table wolves are a better prospect than promotion chasing town...
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Carberry added 22:39 - Feb 2 So the Club (Ashton) has laid the blame at McKenna's door. We gave him options but he didn't want any of them. Messages like that don't get out by accident.
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Tedray added 22:41 - Feb 2 the most important issue is that for whatever reason we failed to sign a better striker.A vital position which needs sorting ASAP I hope that it does not happen but this could be a turning point in our season and not in a good way. We should soon know the answer
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TRCTRBY added 22:43 - Feb 2

Strand Larsen being bought for £48m puts the striker market into perspective. It isn't easy to find players that are an upgrade in that position without spending silly money. Which is why our transfer dealings focus on other attacking positions. We are stronger now than we were going into the window, once we get Nunez and Philogene back fit. Mehmeti and Neil will really bolster our number 10 and midfield depth. Can't believe how negative people are given the run we've been on through Dec and most of Jan. Let's not forget, in the last window we brought Nunez in, from Norwich, and he's been brilliant. So much for Ashton's reputation being at risk.

philpott2 added 22:45 - Feb 2

I'm pretty underwhelmed by it all at the moment, performances are poor, tactics are poor, defensively we are poor and attack wise we are a lot weaker than most of our competition in those league.
Are we struggling to stay with the FFP threshold....surely that's the only logical explanation for the business in this transfer window.
George Hirst seems to think colliding with people at every opportunity is all he needs to be doing. Is he trying too hard, being desperate to make the Scotland squad maybe?
Akpom I hope will click soon.
I hope Jaden is back soon.
I'd like to see Egeli appear in and around the penalty box more often, when he plays, maybe as the 10 with Burns bombing up and down the wing. Might be nice to see it given a go.
Sammie Szmodics I am guessing is moving on as he's been injured so much. He gets tackled, takes a bit of a kick within minutes of getting onto the pitch and he's limping, hobbling....seems to me he has a weak ankle.
Good luck SS. One of the few who really gives his all, but it's just not been happening for him.

prebbs007 added 22:49 - Feb 2

blues1. What are you going on about. KMc was offered a number of players but he felt none were better than we have ??? Who was he offered for Christ sake ? Stevie Wonder & Ray Charles ? If our recruitment team only came up with players WORSE than we currently have they should be sacked. If they came up with better then KMc has everything to answer for if he doesn’t get us promoted. This is a poor quality division this season and we might (only might at this stage) have passed up a golden opportunity to get in the top 2. If he’s basing his better than we have decision on what our CFs have done so far he’s on very dodgy ground. Really hope I’m wrong but I think we’ve just blown our chances and if we stay in the championship our best players will be looking elsewhere in the summer.

Tedray added 23:10 - Feb 2

Sorry forgot about Sammie. Yes we paid a lot for him after he had peaked. Now when we have the chance to recoup some of his hefty fee also bearing in mind his age we have chosen to loan him to a rival club. We will not get another opportunity to claw some money back but then with Ipswich money does not seem to matter much - think the cost of several of our right sided forwards. A most odd situation indeed

algarvefan added 23:11 - Feb 2

Maybe we all need a touch of perspective at Town.
Can't defend, we have the second best performing defence and no strikers but we have the second highest goals in the Championship!!
Mark Ashton & KM seem to be getting a lot of criticism on here, but just look at what they have done for the club!! I'm not just talking performances here but the standing and professionalism of the entire outfit. Local sponsors, endless community activities and pushing our academy to be one of the best, strides made with the womens team. Rome wasn't built in a day and the current transfer market is not an easy one, there aren't dozens of strikers looking to move and some certainly may not be suitable.
So carry on and moan all you like, but I'm proud of the club and it's standing in football and the local community and the great strides we have taken in recent years. Thank you Mark Ashton and KM for all you have done, I believe we will be there or there abouts at the end of the season, many relegated teams from the Prem are not, ask Luton fans!!
All we can do is support the team as best as we can.

darkhorse28 added 23:29 - Feb 2

Blues1 if we couldn’t find better than Azon and his bias record, at this level, then we need to sack everyone and start again.

Chasing Bamford summed us up!!! My Aunties Uncle knows he wasn’t at any point leaving his family home and 3 year old daughter!!!! Pathetic levels of gross negligence to get sucked into his agent getting him maximum value at Sheff.

We really are pathetic at recruitment. Sign EFL players from team of the year, WBA players, and players that’s have played well against us.

That’s not a vision or a strategy, it’s pathetic.

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 23:32 - Feb 2 Spot on Blues1. Can I just point out we are the second highest scorers in the league and have the best defensive record. Some people need a reality check .
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Ipswich1977 added 23:40 - Feb 2 Very, very strange decision. This will come back to haunt us. This is on par with letting Chaplin go. So frustrating and so annoying. Why can't they see that it's an own goal? And then not to bring anyone in!!! You've just weakened our squad for goodness sakes!!
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baxterbasics added 00:08 - Feb 3 Some real numbskulls round here who think they know best after they played a bit of Football Manager.
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Vanisleblue2 added 00:17 - Feb 3

What another complete waste of money. Ogbene and Szmodics together were 17 million!!!! And neither of them played much at all. I know he could come back after his loan but we need his goals now
When he arrived he was "coming home" (Colchester) couldn't wait to play for Town etc. as he will be close to home for his family.
Strange decision by the club if Nunez's or Philogenes injuries are serious.

armchaircritic59 added 00:41 - Feb 3 Prebbs007, I don't think any sane person can argue with your post above. I agree with everything you've stated. In fact I've said similar in other posts, and quite a number of times specifically about the golden opportunity for promotion this season, as make no mistake, next seasons Championship is going to be a very different kettle of fish.
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Steelmonkey added 01:24 - Feb 3

Rumours are circulating about a bust up on the training field involving Sammy and one other maybe the reason for moving him on other or together then just regaining his form with opportunities at another club. I wanted Sammy here when he was playing down the road, but I can’t deny he has been a disappointment in my eyes and hasn’t recaptured the form he is capable of.
Not since Daryl Murphy have we had an out and out striker, but he really only had one good season with us and that season whenever he had half a chance to shoot he took it and it paid dividends.
I’ve said before that we’ve acquired goalscorers who have failed to produce the goods here and that maybe we should be looking at the players who supplied these guys with the passes and who gave them the scoring opportunities.
Not for the first time this season have we seen players so static in the box when crosses do get played in or even players in the box when quick town breaks occur like against Preston.
I can’t say I’m happy about not getting a CF in this window, look what happened after we let Daryl go and didn’t replace him, but what team in their right mind is going to let a proven No 9 go at this time of the season.

AndySav04 added 05:12 - Feb 3

Jan/Feb transfer windows are all about consolidating squads with improvements and allowing squad players to play themselves in on March days.
Smzodics has been a squad player ever since we were in the PL.
Unfortunately the physical nature of this league got tougher and for his scoring up front, Ipswich required more. Hence Mehmeti who is a Great, Great talent and an equally aged Neil.
Just a more competitive rotated 1st team now who have four of the best wing/No ten rotations in the Champ.
Town will be fine, even in the playoffs.
No room out and out No 10's like Smzodics

BangaloreBlues added 06:01 - Feb 3 Has anyone noticed not so long ago everyone commenting on TWTD was pretty much on the same page? Now it seems fractured, with lots of people disagreeing and arguing, and this is increasing slowly over time. You can judge the state of the club by this, and to me these are concerning times.
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VitalSigns added 07:54 - Feb 3 I have no issues with him leaving. Mehmeti was always his replacement. However I doubt we will recoup more than the 5 million allegedly offered by Wrexham.
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