Tottenham Sell Grant Ward to Ipswich Town

Tottenham’s first sale of the summer is 21-year-old midfielder/winger Grant Ward who joins Ipswich Town permanently.

Over on Tottenham’s official site, Spurs have confirmed the exit of Grant Ward.

Ward joins Championship side, Ipswich Town, permanently on a three-year contract. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

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After spending the opening week of the transfer window signing Victor Wanyama from Southampton and Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar, then coming close to securing Georges-Kévin N’Koudou from Olympique Marseille, Tottenham have finally gotten started on balancing out their books.

Although Grant Ward’s departure alone won’t be enough to offset the amount Spurs spent with £28 million being used on two players, and an additional £10.8 million for N’Koudou, Tottenham have to start somewhere.

In Ward’s time with Tottenham, his tenure was comprised of playing in Spurs’ academy before going out on loan. Arriving to Tottenham’s youth ranks full-time in July 2011, Ward represented Spurs at the Under-18 and Under-21 levels.

Upon graduating to the senior team, he would go out on three different loans at three different levels of football: Chicago Fire (MLS), Coventry City (League One) and Rotherham United (Championship).

It’s fair to say that his future under Mauricio Pochettino was going to be a difficult one after the Argentine manager only had him for their post-season tours of Malaysia and Australia in May 2015 before sending him out on loan again to Coventry City and later Rotherham United.

No one truly knew what to expect from Grant Ward had he been given a fair chance to make Pochettino’s first-team and played in a couple of games.

But had he been called up two years ago, he would have problems trying to get some substitute minutes at right wing with Érik Lamela and Andros Townsend ahead of him. Left wing would have been easier but Nacer Chadli had this position all to himself.

In central attacking midfield, Christian Eriksen was the lone player that controlled this area and he rarely comes out in games.

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The following season was more or the less the same, but the additions of Clinton N’Jie and Son Heung-Min showed that Grant Ward wasn’t ready yet, or he never was in contention for a roster spot to begin with.

In total, Ward made 78 appearances while on loan with three different clubs, scoring three goals and racking up five assists.

Not spectacular numbers by any means, but enough to secure a permanent deal with a new club who should at least give him plenty of playing time.

And if last year was anything to go by, then Grant Ward’s time with Rotherham was a productive season where he made 43 appearances (35 starts) in all competitions scored two goals and had one assist.

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After signing with Ipswich Town, Ward will remain in the Championship, but has proven that he can help his team win after the Millers survived relegation last year finishing in 21st place out of 24, and becoming a permanent fixture under three different managers: Steve Evans, Neil Redfearn and Neil Warnock, on his way to winning the club’s Young Player of the Year award.

Grant Ward’s time with Tottenham was brief, but he made his loan spells count.