Ipswich Win Race to Seal Swoop for Sunderland Star

Ipswich Win Battle Over Sunderland Favourite with Medical Passed

Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil is a new Ipswich Town player, with the 24-year-old having passed his medical at Portman Road on his way to leaving the Black Cats.

Although he captained Regis le Bris' men to Premier League promotion last season, Neil has been unable to break back into a midfield now consisting of the likes of Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka and, as such, has been free to leave Sunderland in this window.

Neil brings almost 150 Championship appearances and two different promotion campaigns with Sunderland to the table, holding experience beyond his years as he makes the switch from the Black Cats to the Tractor Boys.

Neil Signs for Ipswich

The deal taking Dan Neil to Ipswich Town is expected to be a loan until the end of the season. However, Neil's contract with Sunderland is to expire at the end of the campaign, essentially meaning this deal would mark his final game in the red-and-white stripes as his contract on Wearside will expire when he has finished.

Provided there are no final issues, Neil will be unveiled as an Ipswich Town player in a matter of days, potentially hours, after passing a medical at Portman Road yesterday evening.

🚨 Dan Neil is currently having a medical at Ipswich Town.
🚜 The Sunderland midfielder has travelled south today to finalise a loan move to the Tractor Boys.
🔜 This means the 24-year-old has played his last game for his boyhood club, with his contract up in the summer.
❌… pic.twitter.com/qgIEwOLVks

— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) January 26, 2026

The likes of West Ham, as well as two Bundesliga clubs, were in the running to try and bring Neil in but it is Ipswich who have now won the race for the talented central midfielder.

Neil's Lack of Action Spelled the End

Neil will always be in the hearts of Sunderland fans after captaining them to promotion last season, but he lost his place in the side after the summer overhaul of the squad saw the arrivals of Xhaka, Sadiki and Habib Diarra.

As a result, he has not started a single Premier League game and has earned just 13 minutes of top-flight action this season. Neil was out of the squad that faced West Ham on Saturday with a 'minor injury', but his lack of an appearance seemed to be linked to his coming exit - Regis le Bris confirmed that "something might happen in the next few days" after the match. As such, Neil's Ipswich move is expected to be announced by the relevant parties in the next 48 hours.

Goodbye Dan Neil. Thank you Dan Neil.

Sunderland quite simply wouldn't be 10th in the Premier League, 5 points off 4th, in January 2026 were it not for players like Dan Neil.

Hope he smashes it at Ipswich. pic.twitter.com/k2To2mfWfN

— Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) January 26, 2026

Neil would have hoped that AFCON could spell out some extra playing opportunities for him after Diarra and Sadiki both flew out to Morocco to play their part, but this was not the case. Neil's only bout of action during AFCON was 11 minutes from the bench in a loss against Brentford. As the season has gone on, and the more the minutes have escaped Neil, it has become more obvious that his time at the club was finite.

Le Bris said last week: "It's tough to speak about individual players. The whole idea is still the same. For players who need minutes, the conversation is still open.

"If we can find an agreement, positive, for both sides, the club and them, we'll move forward."