Ipswich Town won't want to completely lose their identity heading up to the Premier League, with the Tractor Boys an absolute joy to watch last season in full flow.
The likes of Leif Davis were unstoppable at points for Kieran McKenna's men marauding forward, helping himself to a staggering assist haul of 21 in total, but the Suffolk outfit will know that the step-up in quality means they'll have to be tougher at the back.
Ipswich were a leaky side last campaign despite their promotion heroics, conceding 16 more goals than Championship title-winners Leicester across the 46-game season, and that could be why they're being linked with a number of new defensive recruits.
Ipswich looking at 6 foot 1 rock
According to football journalist Graeme Bailey, Ipswich Town are considering signing former loanee Cameron Carter-Vickers this summer but will face stern competition to land his services.
The 6 foot 1 centre-back, who is currently on the books at Celtic as a key cog under Brendan Rodgers, is also being eyed up by London-based duo West Ham United and Fulham this transfer window, as per Bailey, with the Scottish side adamant that they will aim to keep hold of their star 26-year-old despite all this interest heating up.
This could mean Ipswich are now hunting the signature of Carter-Vickers down over exploring a deal for Joe Rodon, who they have also been heavily linked with this transfer window, as McKenna tries to strengthen his side's porous defence ahead of their voyage up to the Premier League.
Opening the season now facing off against Liverpool and Manchester City will no doubt leave those at Portman Road anxious about how many goals they could potentially ship, with Carter-Vickers' signature likely to shore up the Tractor Boys at the back, to try and keep their heads above water in the top-flight.
How Carter-Vickers compares to Joe Rodon
Whilst Rodon is a hot property at the moment, and rightly so after an electric season on loan in the Championship with Leeds, Carter-Vickers would also arrive in Suffolk with plenty of hype attached to his name.
Winning seven trophies in total now for the Bhoys since joining at the start of the 2021/22 season, with two inclusions in the Scottish Premiership Team of the Season along the way, the towering defender could now see this as the perfect opportunity to move on and to prove himself in the top English division.
Games played
25
43
Goals
1
0
Assists
1
0
Touches*
92.8
83.7
Accurate passes*
77.0 (91%)
66.0 (91%)
Interceptions*
0.6
1.2
Tackles*
0.8
1.1
Ball recoveries*
5.7
4.2
Clearances*
3.4
4.5
Head-to-head with Rodon across the last season, Carter-Vickers goes up against the current Tottenham Hotspur man valiantly, bettering him in certain areas, even in spite of having an injury-heavy last season for his Glasgow-based employers.
The USA international will also feel there's unfinished business for him in the Premier League, having never made appearance in the top division for Spurs, when he was still on the roster of the North London club as a promising gem for the future.
Once tipped for great things at Spurs though, with ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino even declaring that a younger Carter-Vickers had the potential to be "one of the best centre-backs in England in the future", Carter-Vickers will sense that this is finally his moment to shine in England, after being offloaded to Celtic for around the £6m mark in 2022.
Coming into the side potentially to add numbers, battling it out with the likes of Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess in the heart of defence, McKenna would be over the moon if this move got over the line.
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