Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has weighed in on Sam Szmodics’ move to Ipswich Town.
Szmodics spent two-and-a-half-years at London Road before heading to Rovers in the summer of 2022.
MacAnthony believes it is a good move for the Irish international as Ipswich aim to build on promotion to the Premier League.
“I don’t care if he is 28. If you did your homework you will know he’s a player who will play until he’s 35 because of how he plays,” MacAnthony said on his Hard Truth Podcast.
“I cannot for the life of me believe that some of the top teams in the Championship didn’t go in for him.
“Nobody went in and sniffed at 12, 13, 14million. This is a player that basically will guarantee you top six in the Champ, I cannot believe it!
“For a player like that to go for that kind of money, I don’t know what has gone on in the market this summer. I have seen players who are half that player go for 16, 17million from the Champ.
“People might say, ‘He might be a flash in the pan’. Well, he has already scored twice inside one-and-a-half sub appearances this season!”
The 28-year-old made his top flight debut in a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool last weekend, coming off the bench for the final 15 minutes at Portman Road.
“Fair play to Ipswich, (the deal) is not even all up front,” MacAnthony continued. “It is all over time, we have got to wait for our (sell-on) payments.
“When I was sent through the text with the amounts from (Barry Fry), I thought, ‘Somebody has made a hell of a bid for one of our players’.
“To be fair, it is a hell of a deal for Ipswich and a hell of a deal for the boy because he is from that neck of the woods in Colchester.
“I’m proud as anything. You’ve now got Ronnie (Edwards), Jack Taylor, Ivan (Toney) in the Premier League and now Sammie.
“Harrison (Burrows) could be there next year. All those players were with us around Covid, quite a few of them I paid seven figures for.”
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