Ashton acknowledges that one of the key lessons from their previous Premier League campaign was the need to bring in more athletic players “with a different set of physical attributes”.

The midfield lacked power and ball-winning ability in 2024-25, and it is imperative that new arrivals Florentino Luis and Sasa Lukic – both experienced at the highest level – hit the ground running. That will be especially important with last season’s mainstays Azor Matusiwa and Jack Taylor doubtful for the opening game following operations over the summer.

It is no surprise that O’Neil is also seeking greater cutting edge given that no Ipswich player scored more than 10 non-penalty goals in the Championship last season.

The Blues broke their transfer record to sign Brazilian striker Emersonn, 22, for an initial £24m. He certainly fits the desired physical profile but is relatively raw, having only established himself as a regular last season at Toulouse, where he scored seven goals in 31 appearances, 22 of them starts.

Maeda, a hardworking forward or winger, had an excellent record at Celtic, netting 79 times in 212 games, but won’t get the same volume of chances in a team battling to stay up.

The Suffolk side have also recruited two Dutch goalkeepers, including Kjell Scherpen, whose imposing 6ft 9in (2.06m) frame means he is set to become the tallest player to appear in the Premier League.

With a new manager in place and a £30m training ground redevelopment close to completion, this could be a defining summer for Ipswich. But will their transfer business be enough to secure successive top-flight campaigns for the first time in a quarter of a century?

Only three promoted clubs have splashed out more in a summer window – Sunderland in 2025, Nottingham Forest in 2022 and Aston Villa in 2019 – and all survived.

Yet Fulham, Southampton, Burnley and Ipswich themselves have spent comparable figures in recent years only to swiftly return to the Championship – with that level of investment increasingly the bare minimum needed to be competitive rather than a guarantee of safety.

OXNARD, Calif. — Shavon Revel was stunned. He dropped his head in disbelief. George Pickens had just done what he has been doing throughout the first two weeks of Dallas Cowboys training camp: making impressive catches.

But this one during red zone work on Saturday particularly bothered Revel because he was in great position to intercept the back-shoulder throw from Dak Prescott. Somehow, Pickens snatched the ball away at the last second.

Instead of allowing that to negatively impact the rest of practice, though, Revel came back about five minutes later and made a diving deflection on a throw intended for Pickens in the back of the end zone.

“I can’t believe he caught that,” Revel told The Athletic after Sunday’s practice. “Short memory. You gotta bounce back. There are great players like that. It’s gonna be 50-50 sometimes. At the end of the day, don’t give up on yourself. And that’s what I didn’t do.

“I just kept trying. They’re giving me the looks that I need, and sharpening my skills at the end of the day.”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer was not surprised by Revel’s response after the Pickens touchdown. Those are the expectations that have been set for the 2025 third-round pick who probably would have gone much earlier if not for a season-ending knee injury his final year of college.

Revel was still working his way back from the injury last season, wearing a protective brace in practice and games. No longer needing the brace, Revel is getting thrown in the fire, working with the first- and second-team defenses, covering all of Dallas’ top wide receivers, including stars Pickens and CeeDee Lamb.

“I think he’s responded that way the whole time,” Schottenheimer said of Revel’s impressive play on Saturday. “He’s going against a couple of the best in the league and he doesn’t back down at all. His confidence is growing. I watch him in meetings and he is literally hanging on every word that (defensive coordinator) Christian Parker, (defensive backs coach) Derrick Ansley and (secondary coach) Ryan Smith are saying.

“He’s very raw. Small-school guy, hasn’t played maybe a ton of football. But the talent is real. The makeup of the young man is real. And he is attacking his craft and really trying to learn the intricacies of playing corner in this system.”

Sunday’s practice was the most entertaining of camp, with highlight plays routinely being made on both sides of the ball. Revel was right in the mix. When it comes to listing early camp standouts, no one should be surprised when Pickens and Lamb are mentioned. But Revel is near the top of the list.

If the season started today, the two starting outside cornerbacks would probably be DaRon Bland and Cobie Durant. But Revel is knocking on the door.

“I feel great,” Revel said. “Way better than I did last year. Running-wise, cutting-wise, breaking-wise, it’s pretty sharp. You’re going to have bumps and bruises so I have to keep my treatment stuff together, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

What is the next step for him?

“Just being consistent,” Revel said. “Situationally, third down, fourth down, what they might run in this formation. Those little things, I’m getting better at. It’s all coming together. There are little details that I want to fix in my game.”

Parker shared a similar response when asked about Revel. He wants to see the 25-year-old “making sure he’s able to live in a single play.”

“He has all the physical attributes,” Parker said. “Everything with him now is just working on everything from the neck up and just making sure that we’re thinking the game properly. And that’s a quick two- or three-second assessment because once you’re getting in your stance and you’re ready to play ball, you want to play with a clear mind.

“So just being able to do that and just finish plays. But he’s doing a good job. He’s extremely hardworking. He’s extremely willing. He wants to be coached. He runs towards that.”

Standing a legitimate 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Revel excels in man coverage. The Cowboys are looking for him to improve in zone, something they believe has been progressing thanks to the extra time he’s been investing.

“He’s taken a big jump from last year,” Bland said. “He’s definitely honing in on his skills and techniques. Just keep learning. Every day he’s trying to learn.”

“He’s definitely super physical,” Pickens said. “I feel like him being that physical at the line of scrimmage can definitely deter a lot of other receivers in the league.”

Late in Sunday’s practice, veteran wide receiver Jonathan Mingo got past Revel on a deep ball up the left sideline. Revel caught up in time and knocked the pass away before Mingo got a chance to secure the grab.

“It felt great,” Revel said. “It was a little mental error. I picked it up real fast. Never gave up on the play, and that’s just kind of what was going through my head. I didn’t see the safety back there. So I was like, ‘Oh, damn, this is going to be my play.’ I just had to keep my head in the game, don’t panic. Just get out there and chase it. Don’t give up.”

It was a play that he likely would not have made a year ago. But now that he has the brace off and is moving like he did when he was a standout at East Carolina, Revel is looking like the player the Cowboys spoke so highly of following the draft.

And it’s easy to see his confidence has been elevated.

“Oh my gosh I can’t even tell you, but it’s like taking a deep breath,” he said. “It’s like you’ve been holding your breath under water forever and you can finally lift your head up out of the water and breathe that fresh air.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There was an at-bat in late June that showed everyone with the Chicago Cubs just how much Pete Crow-Armstrong had matured as a hitter. Late in a tie game against the San Diego Padres, lefty Adrian Morejon, one of the best relievers in the game, came in to face the Cubs’ leadoff man.

Crow-Armstrong worked a seven-pitch walk, at one point challenging a called strike three he rightfully felt was below the zone. Over the last few weeks, unprompted, manager Craig Counsell and team president Jed Hoyer have brought up that plate appearance to discuss Crow-Armstrong’s improvement against left-handed pitching.

“I thought his at-bat against Morejon was the best at-bat I’ve ever seen him take,” Hoyer said recently. “He battled one of the best lefties in the game and laid off a chase slider to walk. We all watched him not do that a lot of times in that situation.”

As a whole, no matter who is on the mound, Crow-Armstrong has improved his pitch recognition. It’s been especially impressive against lefties. Coming into the year, Crow-Armstrong had a 60 wRC+ against lefties. Last year, that number was 59, the sixth-worst in baseball among eligible players. This season, he’s dominated southpaws, posting a 165 wRC+, the 10th-best mark in the league.

“It has completely flipped,” Counsell said. “It’s just different now.”

But even this season, it’s been a process. Though his performance in April and May against lefties was strong (114 wRC+), it’s taken off since. In June, he posted a walk rate of 18.9 percent against southpaws; in July, that number soared to 26.7 percent. Overall, his wRC+ against lefties from June 1 on is a robust 217.

Assistant hitting coach John Mallee, who worked with Crow-Armstrong when the two were at Triple-A Iowa in 2023, has been working hard with the young center fielder for years now. The veteran hitting coach said hitting lefties is hard because batters don’t face them often, and lefties have a tendency to pull off the ball and roll over when facing same-sided pitchers. Crow-Armstrong has worked hard to stop doing that this season.

“His ability to stay in and have zero fear — you watch his video from the side, you wouldn’t know if a righty or lefty is pitching,” Mallee said. “The patterns and the movements don’t change. Usually, left-on-left guys have trouble with the ball going away from them. But his strike zone discipline has improved. He has a really good plan going into the box. He knows what he’s looking for, and he’s disciplined enough now to wait for it.”

That last point is what Crow-Armstrong has said is the reason for his higher walk rate in general. Before he gets to two strikes, he’s only looking for a certain type of pitch in a certain zone. A pitch might end up being a strike, but if it’s not what he was looking for, he’s laying off.

“He moved closer to the plate against lefties, so the plate’s underneath him,” Mallee said. “When he starts to feel himself lean or back up out of the way of things, he knows that’s probably a ball. So that move has helped him.”

Along with the patience, Crow-Armstrong is also starting to display power against lefties. In the first two months of the season, Crow-Armstrong had a .120 ISO and just four extra-base hits in those situations. Since then, he’s got a .313 ISO with five home runs, two doubles and two triples.

“I had some success against lefties in the minor leagues,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I feel like I’m capable of doing damage against anybody that steps on the mound. That’s important for me to take into every at-bat. I’m proud of the success I’ve had against left-handed pitching.”

It’s rare to see these types of leaps in these specific areas, especially so quickly. But Crow-Armstrong has proved over and over he is the exception. There are few talents like Crow-Armstrong.

Taking away the option for opposing managers to just go to a lefty to shut down Crow-Armstrong has helped him reach another level. The development has taken him from a very good player to one who is emerging as the National League MVP favorite. It’s made him a more complete player and ultimately, one of the best in the game.

“I’m not surprised,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’ve done the work, and I’ll continue to do so.”