Swans secure signing of Ipswich Town defender Cam Burgess

The Swans are certainly on a mission to complete their transfer activity early this summer and on Saturday afternoon they took everyone by surprise by securing the signing of Ipswich Town defender Cameron Burgess on a three year contract, subject to international clearance.

It was a move that surprised pretty much everyone as the defender had been tipped as being a straight fight between Rangers and Valencia who had both been linked with a move for him.

It is also another clear indicator that news is likely to be around the corner of the departure of Harry Darling, who is expected to link up with former manager Russell Martin in Glasgow where they will play for Rangers next season.  Darling’s move to Norwich just a week ago was looking an almost certainty but the move of his former boss north of the border has now meant he is likely to turn down the Canaries and move to the Scottish city.

But back to Burgess who is another example of a player that the Swans are looking at but keeping their moves completely under the radar.  The new ownership have worked hard in recent months to reduce the leaks in the club and they appear to have been achieving this more and more as the news broke pretty much out of the blue from SA1 this afternoon.

Burgess appeared 16 times for the Tractor Boys last season as they were relegated from the Premier League and turned down a deal to stay at Portman Road and be part of their campaign to get an immediate return to the top flight.

Head coach Alan Sheehan said: “We are delighted that Cameron will be joining us at Swansea City.  He is an experienced and consistent performer that has seen him rise up through the divisions in the last few years and become a full international.”

Burgess originally joined Ipswich from Accrington Stanley back in 2021 where they paid £750k for his services and speaking just a couple of months back their boss Kieran McKenna said “Cameron’s a senior player now. He’s in the last year of his contract. He has his right to explore his options and I think it’s right that he does that. The club has their right to make the offers that they see best fit.

“I think irrespective of whatever happens in the summer, Cameron’s always going to go down in the folklore of this club now.

“He’s someone who we think is very important and if it’s the right thing for him and his career to stay and be part of it next year, then I’d certainly be more than happy with that from my perspective and would want to have him around.

“If, from Cameron’s point of view, or the club’s point of view, there’s a different direction, then it won’t change too much in my eyes over the last few years.”

Born in Aberdeen, Burgess is a full Australian international having qualified following the family emigration when he was just 11 years old.   He has also recently been part of the Socceroos squad that qualified for the 2026 World Cup Finals.

The capture of Burgess follows the arrival of another central defender Ricardo Santos just a week ago and, as referenced earlier, now means we have likely replaced Harry Darling before his departure.

Well done all involved at Swansea City.