Ipswich Town Eye Julio Enciso Return: O’Neil's Ambitious Move

Ipswich Town are weighing up a move to bring Julio Enciso back to Portman Road, with new manager Gary O’Neil pushing to reunite with the Paraguayan forward he worked with at RC Strasbourg Alsace, according to Sky Sports.

Enciso, still only 22, left a strong impression in Suffolk during his brief loan spell from Brighton & Hove Albion in the second half of the 2024–25 season. In just 13 matches for the Tractor Boys he produced two goals and three assists, flashes of quality that hinted at a higher ceiling and quickly made him a crowd favourite.

O’Neil knows exactly what he would be getting. The pair linked up again in Alsace last season, where Enciso delivered the most complete campaign of his young career. Since arriving in France last summer, he has racked up 42 appearances for Strasbourg and been directly involved in 21 goals across all competitions, scoring 12 and setting up nine. Those are the numbers of a player who has moved from promise to end product.

The step forward has not been limited to club football. Enciso’s rise has carried onto the international stage with Paraguay, where he played a central role in a World Cup campaign that stunned Europe. Paraguay’s surge to the round of 16 included a statement win that knocked Germany out of the tournament, with the Caaguazú-born attacker heavily involved in that upset and firmly on the radar of scouts and analysts alike.

Any deal, though, will not be simple. Enciso is under contract with Strasbourg until 2030, a long-term commitment that hands the French club a strong negotiating position. The specialist website Transfermarkt currently values him at €25m, a figure that underlines how far his stock has risen since his first Ipswich spell.

Ipswich’s interest, O’Neil’s admiration, Strasbourg’s leverage, Enciso’s ambition: all the ingredients are there. The question now is whether Portman Road will once again be the stage for the next act of one of South America’s most intriguing young forwards.