ED SHEERAN stepped in to help Ipswich secure a major transfer during the summer, it has been revealed.
Ipswich chairman and CEO Mark Ashton has lifted the lid on how the club’s most famous fan also played a key part in their recruitment team over the summer.
The Tractor Boys earned promotion to the Premier League for this season for the first time since 2002 under Kieran McKenna, but knew they needed reinforcements if they hoped to avoid relegation.
Sheeran was already a major investor in the club, but received a call to help finalise a huge transfer.
Speaking at a Soccerex event broadcast by Sky Sports, Ashton said: “A local man, global superstar, sponsor of the football club, now a shareholder and now officially part of our recruitment team.
“In the summer we were trying to persuade one particular player to join the football club and realised very quickly that he was an Ed Sheeran fan.
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“Ed jumped on a Zoom call with him at the training ground, hopefully that was a key part of getting the player across the line.
“We’ve gone from the third tier of English football to the Premier League, but we haven’t forgotten our roots and Ed’s a key part of that, the work that we do in our local communities is central to us.”
Without outright saying who the player was, Ashton was asked how the star was doing for them.
He replied: “Certainly scoring a few goals!”
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The player is former Manchester City striker Liam Delap, who is the club’s top goalscorer this season with six in all competitions including the winner against Tottenham.
The 21-year-old signed for the club for £20million on July 13.
Delap and Sammie Szmodics both netted in their recent 2-1 win against Tottenham.
Sheeran was present at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when for the game, which saw Ipswich score twice before half-time.
Szmodics and Sheeran were seen posing for a photo together after the game.
Ipswich’s next game sees them host Manchester United in Ruben Amorim’s first game in England.
McKenna’s side sit one point above the relegation zone with one win, five draws and five defeats from 11 games.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
