Ipswich sign Hull City defender Greaves

Jacob Greaves made his Hull City debut in 2020

Ipswich Town have completed the signing of Hull City centre-back Jacob Greaves on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old was named the Tigers' player of the season last term after Hull finished a place outside the Championship play-off spots.

Greaves, whose debut for Hull came in 2020, made 43 league appearances and scored twice as he was named in the EFL Championship team of the season.

"As soon as I heard about the interest, I was keen to get the move over the line. Now that it's done I am really happy," he said.

“I've spoken to [Ipswich manager] Kieran [McKenna] several times and those conversations have made me very excited for the future here. We spoke about tactics, playing style and life off the pitch and every time we've spoken it's been spot on."

Greaves becomes the Tractor Boys' third signing of the summer following the arrivals of forward Omari Hutchinson from Chelsea and defender Ben Johnson from West Ham.

"He is a very talented, technical and athletic left-sided defender who has performed very well in the Championship and is ready to make the step up to the Premier League at this point in his career," added Town boss McKenna.

McKenna, who has guided Ipswich to back-to-back promotions, signed a new deal at the club in June following interest from Chelsea, Brighton and Manchester United.

Ipswich will play in the Premier League this season for the first time in 22 years.

Greaves 'ticks a lot of boxes'

Graeme McLoughlin, BBC Suffolk sports editor

Greaves is a signing that definitely fits the current profile of player Town are looking for and ticks a lot of boxes.

He only turns 24 in September so you would think his best playing days are still to come...yet he already has more than 200 appearances to his name.

It's certainly one to place in the "It'll be interesting to see how much more he can improve under Kieran McKenna" file.

It remains to be seen whether Greaves will be a first choice from the get-go, but either way he'll provide strong competition for last season's regular starters Cameron Burgess and Luke Woolfenden, alongside Axel Tuanzebe.

He can also play at left-back, so does that mean McKenna is less likely to recruit a specialist in that role who can cover for Leif Davis? Again we will wait and see.

It looks increasingly unlikely Jaden Philogene will follow Greaves in making the switch from Humberside to Suffolk, but I think this is a signing Town maybe needed more.