Ipswich Town have now submitted an offer for Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Exequiel Palacios, and they are confident about getting a deal over the line soon.
Ipswich recently brought in fellow midfielders Florentino Luis and Sasa Lukic, but after securing their signatures, Gary O’Neil insisted there is still work to do in the transfer market, saying: “The plan is to do quite a bit more. Numbers really, of course, nothing is set in stone, but we’re still trying to do stuff. You hope that before Sunderland we’d have done some, and then definitely before the close of the window we’d expect there to be more arrivals.”
Florentino and Lukic could be key additions, considering most of O’Neil’s other central midfield options have no experience in the Premier League.
|
Ipswich’s central midfield options |
Age |
Premier League appearances |
|
Florentino Luis |
26 |
31 |
|
Azor Matusiwa |
28 |
0 |
|
Marcelino Nunez |
26 |
0 |
|
Sasa Lukic |
30 |
92 |
|
Jack Taylor |
28 |
32 |
|
Cameron Humphreys |
20 |
0 |
Signing Palacios would certainly be a statement of intent too, considering he is a seasoned international, collecting 41 caps for Argentina, and he is now very experienced in European football, picking up 15 goals and 17 assists in 185 matches for Bayer Leverkusen.
Como scout Ben Mattinson has been very impressed by some of the 27-year-old’s performances for the German side, singling him out for high praise during the season in which they won the Bundesliga title undefeated.
Ipswich Town make fresh offer for Exequiel Palacios
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Ipswich have now submitted a fresh offer for Palacios, and they are confident about agreeing a deal with Bayer Leverkusen.
In fact, there is optimism that negotiations may be finalised “in the next hours”, which suggests there could be some movement on Tuesday.
The Argentinian could be an exciting addition to O’Neil’s squad, considering he has Champions League experience under his belt, making 17 appearances in Europe’s elite competition, while he was also part of Lionel Scaloni’s World Cup-winning squad in 2022.
Palacios isn’t the only central midfielder of interest to Ipswich though, with Real Betis star Nelson Deossa also under consideration, and the Spanish side are prepared to sanction a transfer this summer.
However, Deossa isn’t anywhere near as experienced as Palacios in Europe, having only spent one season in La Liga, featuring for just 735 minutes in 20 matches across the 2025-26 campaign.
As such, the Bayer Leverkusen star should be the Tractor Boys’ priority target.
