Ipswich Town have completed the signing of Brazilian striker Emersonn from Ligue 1 side Toulouse, with the deal confirmed on 8 July 2026. The fee is reported at around £26.5m, or roughly €28m, making the 21-year-old the most expensive signing in the club's history. Reports describe the package as a fixed fee close to £24m with add-ons that can push the total beyond £26m, plus a sell-on clause for Toulouse. Emersonn has signed a five-year contract at Portman Road and becomes the first Brazilian player to represent Ipswich Town.
The move is new manager Gary O'Neil's first signing since taking charge at Portman Road. O'Neil was appointed in June 2026 on a three-year deal after finishing his previous job in charge of Ligue 1 club Strasbourg, where he guided the team to eighth place and a first-ever European semi-final in the Conference League. That spell in French football gave O'Neil a close-up look at Emersonn: Strasbourg beat Toulouse 2-1 in May, with Emersonn scoring from the bench in a match O'Neil watched from the opposition dugout. "He is a young striker with real ability and potential who has had plenty of interest this summer," O'Neil said of the deal. Newly promoted to the Premier League, Ipswich wanted a young forward with room to develop rather than a short-term fix, and Emersonn's age and profile fit that plan.
For Toulouse, it's a striking piece of business. They signed Emersonn from Turkish club Göztepe for just over €3m in September 2025, taking a chance on a player looking to rebuild his career after difficult spells in Brazil and Turkey. Selling him less than a year later for around nine times that fee is one of the more profitable pieces of trading in the French club's recent history, even though it means losing a forward who had become one of their most productive attackers. Toulouse keep the fee and a sell-on clause, but now need to find a new focal point up front for next season's Ligue 1 campaign.
Emersonn's rise at Toulouse was rapid. He marked only his second appearance for the club with a brace away at Lyon in October 2025, and went on to score seven goals in 31 appearances in all competitions last season, adding three assists. In Ligue 1 alone he scored six goals in just over 1,500 minutes, a solid return for a first full season in one of Europe's bigger leagues. He was also involved in some of Toulouse's more notable results, including that goal against Strasbourg in May which came too late to prevent a 2-1 defeat. At 21, and with Brazil youth international experience, he is seen as a striker who is still developing rather than the finished product.
At Ipswich, Emersonn is expected to lead the line as O'Neil's side prepare for life back in the Premier League. His pace and directness in behind defences suit the kind of counter-attacking football O'Neil's teams have tended to play, and Ipswich will be hoping his goal return improves further with regular top-flight minutes. How quickly he adjusts to the physical demands of English football remains to be seen, but the size of the fee shows how highly Ipswich rate his long-term potential.