Look who's coming back to AESSEAL New York Stadium to face Rotherham United as a £1.5 million player

THE striker who failed to score in 32 loan appearances for Rotherham United will make a return to AESSEAL New York Stadium next season after becoming a £1.5 million player.

George Hirst endured a year of misery with the Millers when he joined them for their 2020/21 campaign that ended in Championship relegation.

The Leicester City man never got off the mark in four starts and 27 substitute outings but went on to prove himself as a League One loanee with Portsmouth and Ipswich Town.

The promoted Tractor Boys have just paid the Foxes a seven-figure fee to take him to Portman Road on a four-year deal.

That means he will be back at New York on Saturday October 21 when Rotherham do battle in the second tier with Kieran McKenna's side.

Ipswich could have another former Millers centre-forward in their line-up in Freddie Ladapo who spent three seasons in South Yorkshire before moving to East Anglia last summer.

Hirst spent 2021/22 with Portsmouth, scoring 13 goals in 40 third-tier matches, and then had another fruitless Championship loan, this time with Blackburn Rovers for whom he played 11 times without breaking his duck.

A January switch last term brought six goals in 21 League One games as Ipswich went up in runners-up spot and the former Sheffield Wednesday prospect is delighted to have signed for them permanently.

"One thing that was massive for me was that I got the feeling of being at home,” he said. "It was probably a feeling I haven’t had anywhere else.

"It was down to the reception I got from the fans, the players, the staff. I’m 24 now so I wanted that little bit of stability to find a home and put the work in from there."