Flynn Downes has completed his move to West Ham United, with Ipswich Town set to benefit significantly from the academy graduate's Premier League move.
Downes, who comes from a family of West Ham fans, moves to London Stadium after a season in the Championship with Swansea, who he joined from Ipswich last summer in a move which ultimately cost the Welsh club around £1.5million. He has signed a five-year contract.
The 23-year-old is widely reported to be costing the Hammers up to £12m, with an initial payment of £9million, meaning a significant financial boost for the Blues due to a sell-on clause inserted in the deal which saw him move to Swansea.
We revealed this morning how Town had negotiated a future cut of between 20-25% when selling Downes to Swansea, with Ipswich's slice based on profit and likely to arrive in installments rather than as a lump sum.
That means Ipswich could receive between £2.1m and £2.6m for a young player who made 99 senior appearances for the club, potentially taking Ipswich's overall income for Downes above £4million.
Some reports have suggested West Ham could pay as much as £14m for Downes which, if correct, could net Town £3.1m.
Downes could potentially make his first appearance in a West Ham shirt on Tuesday, when the Premier League side travel to Portman Road for a pre-season friendly.
“It’s a surreal feeling to have joined my boyhood Club,” said Downes. “I feel like I’m dreaming.
“It’s been my dream since I was a little boy to join this Club - it’s an absolute privilege. This is my Club, so I couldn’t be more delighted. I’m glad to be here and I can’t wait to get started.
“I want to be the best I can be and this feels like the perfect opportunity to test myself against the very best players in the Premier League.
“Players have come to West Ham from the Championship and progressed to international honours. That’s something you can’t ignore. The manager’s track record of bringing players through was a big motivation in me joining the club.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a West Ham player.”
West Ham manager David Moyes added: “We are pleased to have signed Flynn and are looking forward to bringing him into the group.
“We think he's got good energy. We think he's got a lot of things which we have about our team, which we would want to keep and want to add to. I'm looking forward to it.
“We brought Jarrod Bowen from a similar situation at Hull, so we're always trying to find boys from the Championship who we think are going to step up to become Premier League players. I'm hoping that Flynn does. I think there's a good chance as he's got an awful lot of good attributes.”
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