Zian Flemming's Excitement for Premier League Return with Ipswich

Zian Flemming admits he felt it the moment he saw the fixture list.

Liverpool. Friday night. Live under the lights.

“That’s when I thought, ‘yeah, I’m really back in the Prem,’” the new Ipswich Town signing said, the smile almost audible.

The 28-year-old forward arrived at Portman Road on deadline day in a £20m move from Burnley and could be thrown straight in for the visit of Liverpool, a statement opening to Ipswich’s Premier League return and his own second crack at English football’s top tier.

For Flemming, it is exactly where he wants to be.

“For me it’s just pure excitement,” he told the media on Thursday. “This move for me to go back to the Premier League – I’m happy with that.”

He has been here before, briefly. Last season he hit 11 league goals for Burnley, a bright individual campaign that could not stop the Clarets sliding back into the Championship. Personal progress, collective pain.

“I just get a sensation of excitement for challenges,” he said. “Whether it’s a personal or a team challenge it brings something to life inside of me to take it on.

“Last season I managed to come out on top of the personal challenge to become a Premier League player but lost out on the team challenge and stay in the league.”

That tension drives him. The striker talks about the top flight not as a stage but as a mountain.

“I’d like to be at the bottom of the mountain and look up and wonder what it is like at the top. Then, get my head down and see how far I can get and see whether I can reach the top.”

Ipswich are banking on that mentality. Promoted, ambitious, unafraid of the fixture computer’s cruelty. Liverpool first, and no easing-in period for their new forward.

For Flemming, that is the appeal.

“That’s what you want, to play against the best teams and best players,” he said. “That’s what gave me so much joy and excitement last year, to be able to measure yourself against the very best and have them push you to the next level. I can’t wait to do that again and experience that again.”

The Premier League has already tested him once. Now it gets another look at a player who clearly has no interest in choosing the easy route up the mountain.