Ipswich Town sent out a statement when picking up the services of Kalvin Phillips recently, gaining a new central midfielder on loan that once cost Pep Guardiola's Manchester City an eye-watering £45m to snap up.
Now, Kieran McKenna is tasked with breathing life back into the stuttering ex-Leeds United man's career, but he will have to sit out this weekend's Premier League tie, as the Tractor Boys travel to the Etihad to face his parent employers.
Ipswich might not be done there with exciting new additions in the centre of the park, however, as this EFL starlet is now being eyed up by the newly promoted outfit.
Ipswich's search for a midfielder
As reported by journalist Mike McGrath earlier this week, the Suffolk side are looking at Sheffield United youngster Ollie Arblaster this summer, alongside a whole host of other top-flight clubs.
Brentford and Southampton are also named as suitors keeping a close eye on the South Yorkshire-born talent, who scored his first-ever senior goal for the Blades recently in the division below under Chris Wilder's tutelage.
Impressing out on loan in the lower depths of the EFL with Port Vale in the past, this could be Arblaster's breakout campaign, with Portman Road his potential next onward destination.
What Arblaster could offer Ipswich
Of course, the youngster could well want to remain loyal to his hometown club for the time being, but the bright lights of the Premier League could also be too tempting, having got a taste for the elite division with the Blades last season.
Phillips was also a wide-eyed talent with the world at his feet once upon a time, playing for one of the Blades' rivals in Leeds, with the potential for Arblaster to become an even bigger name in the game, when compared next to the Man City dud.
Of course, the 20-year-old midfielder would find it hard to instantly break into the Tractor Boys first-team, owing to the fact Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo are rock solid as a holding duo for McKenna.
Yet, Arblaster could be viewed as the type to catch a tiring Premier League defence off-guard, in place of the older heads at Portman Road from off the bench, with the Blades youth product excelling more as an attacking option centrally, than a defensively sound presence.
Stat
Preston
QPR
Minutes played
90
90
Goals scored
1
0
Assists
0
0
Touches
69
59
Accurate passes
42/54 (78%)
44/48 (92%)
Accurate long balls
6/11
4/7
Key passes
2
5
Duels won
5/8
2/4
Away from scoring on the opening day as Wilder's men convincingly brushed Preston North End aside 2-0, Arblaster also shone in the following 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers, with an impressive five key passes registered in the score draw.
The 20-year-old ace could well go on to become Ipswich's next Darren Ambrose if everything clicks into place, with the former Tractor Boys icon once a raw talent himself in the middle of the park.
The club hero burst onto the scene at Portman Road back in the early noughties, netting eight strikes from 29 games during his first full league campaign in the senior mix.
Unlike both Ambrose, and now Arblaster, who have made the transition to men's football seem rather seamless, Phillips wouldn't instantly become a world-beater at Elland Road.
It wouldn't really be until Marcelo Bielsa's arrival to West Yorkshire that Phillips would be transformed into a player deemed worthy of a £45m price tag, having had to fight for his place in the senior side beforehand.
The "incredible" Ipswich target – as he was labelled by Wilder last season when cutting his teeth in the top flight – will have to battle it out for a space at the Tractor Boys too.
But, the future looks extremely bright for the Blades academy product, as does Ipswich's in the top division with McKenna continuing to strengthen.
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