Will Ipswich eclipse Sunderland's record spend?

Ipswich Town's 2026-27 Premier League campaign gets under way on Saturday, with Sunderland the visitors to Portman Road.

It has been a busy summer on and off the pitch for the Tractor Boys, with plenty of transfer activity following the arrival of Gary O'Neil as Kieran McKenna's successor.

Survival is inevitably the target and, after watching Sunderland and Leeds achieve that and more last season, there is perhaps more optimism that Town can stay up this time around.

All three promoted teams have been active in this summer's transfer market to help them bridge the gap between the Championship and Premier League.

Spending big is no guarantee of survival, but Ipswich and Coventry City have already spent more than £100m with less than two weeks of the window remaining.

To date, Town have signed 12 players this summer and spent around £150m.

They spent the same two seasons ago when they reached the top flight under McKenna, but this time their recruitment model is very different.

Town have cast their net far wider than English leagues, with Emersonn the first Brazilian to join the club, Sasa Lukic their first player from Serbia and Daizen Maeda the first Japanese player.

Turning to the wider market is what Sunderland did last summer, when they spent a record £161m on 15 players, in what was a complete squad overhaul by manager Regis Le Bris.

Nick Barnes, BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator, said: "They were able to identify players largely unknown from Europe and South America and buy on average for around 20 million euros, gambling on their due diligence to identify players they believed would only increase in value."

Brian Brobbey, Noah Sadiki and Robin Roefs are prime examples of that strategy after impressing individually last season.

And while Town have looked to the European markets for striker Emersonn and goalkeeper Kayne van Oevelen, they have also signed four players with Premier League experience.

Lukic arrives alongside Issa Diop, who together have made over 250 top-flight appearances, as well as Florentino Luis who played 31 times last season for Burnley and former Brighton midfielder Julio Enciso.

Encisco returns to Portman Road permanently - just 18 months after his previous spell - as the club record signing alongside midfielder Abdoul Ouattara from French club Strasbourg.

The reported combined fee for both players has the potential to reach £47.3m, with both players having played for O'Neil in France.

With just over 10 days of the window remaining, Ipswich could eclipse Sunderland's record spending last summer with near enough the same number of players through the door.

Come back to this page later today to see how Ipswich's recruitment compares with that of Leeds United last summer.