Ipswich Eye Reunion with Julio Enciso as O’Neil Targets Forward
Ipswich Town are lining up an ambitious move to bring Julio Enciso back to Portman Road, with Gary O’Neil pushing hard to reunite with the Paraguayan forward he knows well from RC Strasbourg Alsace, according to Sky Sports.
Enciso, still only 22, left a strong impression during his short spell in Suffolk. On loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the second half of the 2024–25 campaign, he produced two goals and three assists in 13 appearances, injecting pace, invention and a touch of chaos into Ipswich’s attack. He was never there long enough to become a cornerstone. He did enough, though, to make people wonder what a full season of him might look like.
Now that question is back on the table.
O’Neil’s man
O’Neil’s arrival as Ipswich manager has changed the temperature of this pursuit. The pair worked together at Strasbourg, where Enciso’s game has grown from raw promise into consistent end product. O’Neil knows exactly what he would be getting: a forward who can play across the front line, drive at defenders and decide matches.
Since moving to France last summer, Enciso has been central to Strasbourg’s attack. Forty-two appearances, 12 goals, nine assists. Twenty-one direct goal contributions in all competitions tell their own story. He has not just featured; he has influenced games, often heavily.
That kind of productivity is not easy to find, and it is even harder to prise away.
World Cup stage, rising profile
Enciso’s stock climbed further on the international stage. Part of Paraguay’s World Cup squad, he played a major role in their eye-catching run to the round of 16, helping to knock Germany out of the tournament. Performances like that change how a player is viewed. They also change the kind of clubs that start making calls.
For Ipswich, that means competition and cost.
A long contract, a big number
Enciso is tied to Strasbourg until 2030, a contract that gives the French club serious leverage. The specialist site Transfermarkt currently values him at €25 million, a figure that underlines how far he has come in a short space of time.
Strasbourg are under no pressure to sell. Brighton, still owning his parent rights, know they have a valuable asset on their books. Ipswich, newly shaped under O’Neil and eager to add proven quality, are trying to thread the needle between ambition and reality.
The attraction is obvious: a player who has already shown he can handle English football, who has blossomed in Ligue 1, and who has delivered on the biggest international stage. The question now is just how far Ipswich are prepared to go to bring Julio Enciso back to Portman Road.
