Ipswich Town have suffered a big setback in their pursuit of West Ham’s seasoned striker, Callum Wilson, with a new twist developing regarding the 33-year-old.

According to the Athletic, Wilson will now stay at the London Stadium for the rest of the Premier League season, despite previous speculation that he and the Hammers had reached an agreement in which his contract would be terminated just over five months ahead of schedule.

Such developments come less than 48 hours after the nine-time former England international scored his fifth and, arguably, most important goal in claret and blue, prodding home a last-gasp corner to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

West Ham may play in the Championship for the first time in 14 years at the start of next season, as they remain in the Premier League’s relegation zone despite a much-needed morale-boosting victory over Tottenham.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are expecting to restore their top flight status soon under Kieran McKenna, since the Tractor Boys, Leicester City, and Southampton spent the majority of last season in the bottom three.

The Blues are currently in a solid position to do so, having won six of their last eight Championship games with a controlled and relatively routine 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

McKenna’s side is presently third in the second division, having collected 47 points from their first 26 league games, and are only two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough, with a game in hand over Kim Hellberg’s men.

However, while the Northern Irishman clearly wants to bolster an already formidable attacking department, he will not be able to do so with Wilson’s experience, and they are not the only team that will be disappointed by West Ham’s U-turn in the transfer issue.

Ipswich Town suffers big transfer setback as West Ham make a major U-turn on Callum Wilson’s future.

Wilson’s future at the London Stadium was uncertain in the first week of the transfer window, as he was expected to leave just six months after joining on a free transfer under Nuno Espírito Santo’s predecessor, Graham Potter.

Despite the fact that the experienced forward had remained a regular in the one-time Championship title-winning head coach’s first-team plans since his September appointment, Wilson was left out of Nuno’s squad for the shocking 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on January 6th, as well as last weekend’s FA Cup third-round victory over second-tier Queens Park Rangers.

Such events followed the Hammers’ high-profile acquisitions of Pablo Felipe from Gil Vicente and Taty Castellanos from Serie A heavyweights Lazio, which cost the Premier League club more than £40 million in transfer fees.

TWTD then stated that Ipswich had expressed an interest in Wilson, should his stint with the Irons come to an end soon, despite facing stiff competition from Everton, Celtic, and Saudi Pro League side Al-Shaba.

Despite those exit rumours and prior matchday squad absences, the Coventry-born forward was picked as a replacement in North London and scored a thrilling winner against Thomas Frank’s team in the third minute of second half stoppage time.

The Athletic has since stated that, according to sources close to the matter, the Hammers have no plans to split ways with Wilson, who signed a one-year contract in August after being released by Newcastle United.

Kieran McKenna must swiftly find new Ipswich Town striker targets following the Callum Wilson twist.

Wilson had previously scored 20 goals in 46 Championship outings as part of AFC Bournemouth’s title victory in 2015, and his subsequent top level record suggests he could have been a key signing for Town.

McKenna will now have to identify more short-term targets after a reported loan move for Lyndon Dykes fell through, with the ex-Birmingham City player signing for Charlton Athletic on Thursday.

Furthermore, George Hirst, Chuba Akpom, and Ivan Azon must step up to the plate with more individual strikes, as the trio of Town’s main centre-forward options has only scored 10 league goals between them thus far, one more than top scorer Jaden Philogene’s individual tally.