When Leif Davis joined then League One side Ipswich Town in the summer of 2022, he wouldn’t have expected to be competing for automatic promotion to the Premier League alongside former team Leeds United less than two years later.
The 24-year-old defender moved to Portman Road from Leeds for a reported fee of £1.2million in July 2022 and has thrived under Kieran McKenna, winning promotion to the Championship in his first season in Suffolk – and the club are looking to make it two promotions in a row this season.
Davis took a bit of a risk when he decided to leave a Premier League club in Leeds for League One, but it’s certainly a move that has paid off, and the Tractor Boys look set to make a huge return of investment if they decide to sell the defender in the near future.
Leif Davis’ time at Ipswich Town
With Leeds about to go into their third season at Premier League level, Davis would have been aware that playing time was to be hard to come by, having played just 31 minutes of Premier League football prior to the 2022-23 campaign.
A loan spell at Bournemouth during the 2021-22 season saw him play just 12 games of Championship football, so Davis took the brave decision to put his career first and join a League One side where he knew he’d play regularly.
It’s a move that couldn’t have worked out much better for Davis, as he was given regular football by McKenna, and in his first season he played 46 games in all competitions for the Tractor Boys, scoring three goals and registering 14 assists as they finished second in the League One table and won automatic promotion.
The left-back was also included in the 2022-23 League One PFA Team of the Year, helping to cap off a memorable first season at Portman Road.
However, questions remained over how Davis would adapt to Championship football, but the 24-year-old has silenced all the doubters this season.
He has started 35 of Ipswich’s 38 league games this season, scoring once, but registering a whopping 14 assists, putting him second in the league – just one behind Leeds man Georginio Rutter.
Davis has adapted better to the Championship than anyone could have expected, and it’s likely that he’ll be a Premier League player in a few season’s time – whether that be with Ipswich or another club.
The club will be able to command a large fee for the left-back should a Premier League side show interest, and they’ll likely make a huge profit on the £1.2million they paid for him.
It’s been a great move for both Ipswich and Davis, and Leeds may be looking on with regret.
Leeds United will be looking at Leif Davis’ form for Ipswich with envy
Leeds never saw Davis reach his full potential as he was only a youngster and the club were competing for promotion and then as a Premier League side, but in hindsight they’ll feel as if they massively missed out.
£1.2 million for a player of Davis’ quality was a steal, and you wonder what would have happened had Leeds loaned him out for their last season in the Premier League, before becoming a regular for the Whites now in the Championship.
However, Leeds wouldn’t have expected to have been relegated at the end of the 2022/23 season, so the summer of 2022 probably seemed the perfect time to let Davis move on.
It’s a move that has benefited two of the three parties, with Leeds clearly the party who have missed out.
As both Ipswich and Leeds battle to win automatic promotion, it would be a bitter pill to swallow for Leeds if Davis’ Ipswich side beat them to reach the Premier League, having been allowed to leave the club for cheap less than two years ago.
