Ipswich Town sign England-capped defender Ben Godrey from Atalanta on loan to kick off January signings

Ipswich Town have confirmed the loan signing of Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey.

News broke that the Blues were in talks with the former Everton and Norwich City man on Friday with the 26-year-old having been at Playford Road to undergo a medical yesterday.

Town boss Kieran McKenna said at his Friday press conference that he was keen to make signings early in the transfer window and he has got his wish.

“It’s been an exciting couple of days and I’m just delighted to have signed and can’t wait to meet the lads and get started,” Godfrey told TownTV.

“I have really enjoyed speaking to the manager and to have the opportunity to work under him now is something I’m very excited about. I’ve watched a lot of the games from the first half of the season and you can tell from those that the group is a tight one, full of players giving everything to achieve their goals.

“I’ve not played as much as I would have liked so far this season, but I feel ready to contribute and am looking forward to getting out there.”

Godfrey, who plays at centre-half or right-back, joined Atalanta for £11 million in the summer but has made only one appearance in Serie A and a return to England had been expected with Tottenham, Leeds, Wolves and Nottingham Forest among the other clubs to have been linked, although Town are understood to have been the only side to have made a concrete offer.

York-born Godfrey started his senior career with his hometown club, having spent time as a youth player at Middlesbrough, before moving on to Norwich City, with whom he won the Championship title in 2018/19 having had a spell on loan at Shrewsbury.

In the summer of 2020 he moved on to Everton and during his spell at Goodison Park he won two full England caps, adding to appearances at U20 and U21 levels.

Town have always seemed likely to be in the market for a player in the mould of Godfrey in this transfer window to compete for Axel Tuanzebe’s right-sided defensive role.

An overseas loan doesn’t count towards the two player limit in the Premier League, which affects only domestic loans.