Ipswich Town's transfer window has sprung into life in recent days and it's only set to get more hectic in the coming weeks.

With a full-scale rebuild going on, Paul Cook is looking to add more faces to his squad, with Vaclav Hladky and Matt Penney set to join the likes of Lee Evans, Wes Burns and Rekeem Harper who have already put pen-to-paper.

And it looked as though the Tractor Boys pulled off a bit of a coup this past weekend when they confirmed the acquisition of Queens Park Rangers striker Macauley Bonne on a season-long loan deal.

Despite not being very prolific in-front of goal in his debut campaign with the Hoops, Bonne netted 11 times for Charlton Athletic in the Championship the season prior and on paper he should be a fantastic asset at League One level.

Let's look at two reasons as to why Cook probably pursued Bonne's signing ahead of other strikers that were linked with a move to Portman Road.

Lack of goals last season

The most obvious reason would be that when Cook arrived at the club in March, Ipswich struggled to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.

Town went on a six game streak without scoring in April and in Cook's 16 matches in charge, they scored just 11 times - considering they were still chasing a play-off place for most of that run that is pretty disappointing.

Even more so when you factor in the strikers on the books last season like James Norwood, Kayden Jackson and Troy Parrott it becomes even more of a confusion as to why they struggled so much.

Bonne made a big jump up the leagues in 2019 when he swapped Leyton Orient of the National League, where he'd scored 45 goals in 90 outings, for Charlton of the Championship but still netted 11 times in 33 matches in his first season with the Addicks.

Three in 34 for QPR last season doesn't read very well but many of Bonne's appearances came off the bench - he will be guaranteed more minutes at Portman Road and he should bang them in theoretically in the third tier.

 

 

 

 

The home-town factor

Cook was clearly disappointed about not only the lack of ability in his side at the back end of last season, but also their effort on the pitch - but with Bonne being not only a former Tractor Boy with a point to prove but also being born in the town there will be absolutely no shortage of effort from him.

Bonne spent six years in the Ipswich academy as a child before moving on to Norwich and then Colchester, and considering he was at the club from an early age he will know full well what it means to pull on the shirt.

Bonne has a high-pressing style of play as well and that's what Cook will want from his frontmen as he goes searching for big wins next season, and he certainly offers something different to the likes of Jackson and Norwood who are currently on the books.