Coventry City and Ipswich Town will both be linked to plenty of the same players throughout the summer transfer window, as it is easy to group them together.

They both earned automatic promotion from the Championship and agents can pick them both out as easy name-drops for interest in their clients, as both sides will be in the market for plenty of additions to their respective squads.

For example, Ipswich and Coventry are both reportedly keen on Arsenal attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri, Brighton & Hove Albion winger Solly March, and Burnley centre-forward Zian Flemming.

It makes sense that they will be in the market for similar players because they may have similar budgets after promotion and will be looking at stars who are willing to sign for a newly-promoted Premier League club.

They have to strengthen all over the pitch, to ensure that they are ready for top-flight football, and they may both be looking for a new number nine.

Why Coventry and Ipswich should both sign a centre-forward

Coventry and Ipswich do not have any strikers who have proven themselves in any of Europe's major leagues, let alone the Premier League, which is why Frank Lampard and Kieran McKenna should be eyeing new forwards.

George Hirst has the most top-flight goals among McKenna's number nine options, and the Scotland international has only scored three Premier League goals in his career.

Haji Wright scored an eye-catching 17 goals in the Championship to lead Coventry to the league title this season, but he has only scored one goal in Europe's top five leagues, which came in the Bundesliga for Schalke in the 2018/19 campaign.

The Sky Blues and the Tractor Boys will, of course, need goals from all over the pitch to fight for survival in the Premier League next term, and going with their current options would be a big risk.

That is why Coventry must look to rival Ipswich to the signing of a proven top-flight striker when the summer transfer window opens for business later this month.

Coventry must rival Ipswich to signing of £30m Premier League striker

The Tractor Boys have already been linked with a move to bring Liam Delap back to Portman Road, 12 months after they sold him to Chelsea for a fee of £30m after they were relegated from the Premier League in the 2024/25 campaign.

He has struggled at Stamford Bridge, scoring just two goals this season, but that should be seen as an opportunity for Coventry and Ipswich to swoop in and potentially land a brilliant signing.

His form for the Tractor Boys on loan in the 2024/25 campaign, despite their relegation from the division, suggests that he does have the quality to be an impactful player in the top-flight in the right setting.

The 23-year-old marksman racked up an impressive haul of 12 goals in the Premier League that term, earning a £30m move to Chelsea, and Hirst did not even manage that many goals in the Championship this season, scoring 11.

He would undoubtably be an upgrade on Hirst for McKenna because the Scottish forward only scored three goals in the last top-flight season, as a back-up to Delap, and only scored 11 times in a team fighting for promotion in the second tier.

The £30m-rated striker would also be a better option than Wright for Coventry because he has proven that he can score goals in the Premier League and has shown that he can handle the physicality of that level.

Delap, who was described as a "monster" by former teammate Alex Palmer, is an incredibly mobile and physical centre-forward who can be a constant nuisance for opposition centre-backs.

He ranked in the top 7% of strikers in the 2024/25 Premier League season for duels won (157), the top 20% for aerial duels won (58), and the top 8% for successful dribbles (40).

These statistics show that he is the perfect centre-forward for a team battling against the drop because he can compete with defenders to win duels and hold the ball up, whilst he also has the pace and dribbling ability to carry the team up the pitch when they are under pressure.

Therefore, Coventry must rival Ipswich to the signing of Delap because he could play a key role in helping either club to secure survival in the top-flight next season, with both his technical and physical attributes, as an upgrade on Hirst or Wright.