Ipswich Town confirmed the Hirst sale on Friday, ending a three-and-a-half-year spell at Portman Road that began with a loan move from Leicester City in January 2023 and produced 30 goals in 125 appearances across three separate promotions, two of them to the Premier League. Reports suggest the Potters have paid an initial £6m, with a further £4m in add-ons.
Hirst's contribution went well beyond the goal tally. His stunning strike at Barnsley in April 2023 helped push Ipswich towards promotion from League One, and he was on target again days later in a 6-0 win over Exeter that confirmed their place in the Championship.
He then scored the winner at Sunderland on the club's return to the second tier, before a hamstring injury cost him much of the following campaign — though he still returned in time to score a crucial equaliser at Hull in April that kept the promotion push on track. Last season he scored 11 times, including in the win at Norwich that ended Ipswich's near two-decade wait for victory at Carrow Road, and again in the final-day success over Queens Park Rangers that sealed a second promotion to the Premier League in three years.
Hirst's departure follows him to a Stoke side who have made a habit of raiding Portman Road this week. Right-back Ben Johnson has also joined the Potters, on a season-long loan, after making 17 appearances during Ipswich's promotion-winning campaign last term.
The 26-year-old began his career at West Ham, where he made 69 Premier League appearances across six seasons and won the UEFA Conference League in 2023 alongside his new Stoke team-mate Aaron Cresswell, before moving to Portman Road for the 2024-25 season, which ended in relegation.
"Ben has been trusted to play at the highest level from a young age, and, for both club and country, he has been involved in successful teams," Stoke sporting director Jonathan Walters said. "He knows the Championship well, having been involved in Ipswich's promotion last season."
The double arrival takes Stoke's summer signings to seven as Mark Robins' side aim for a more sustained promotion push, eight years on from their own relegation from the Premier League.
For Ipswich, Hirst's exit leaves Christian Walton, Leif Davis, Jack Taylor and Cameron Humphreys as the only survivors from the club's back-to-back promotion-winning squads, with Gary O'Neil's attacking options now built around Emersonn, Chuba Akpom and Ali Al-Hamadi ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener against Sunderland.