Manchester United are interested in Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna, according to a report from Football Insider, with new owners INEOS having concrete admiration for the club’s former assistant coach.
Ipswich went to the top of the Championship table last night after a 97th-minute Jeremy Sarmiento goal gave them all three points against Southampton. It was their ninth win in the last ten games, with their only defeat coming against Cardiff City at the start of March.
The 37-year-old, who won promotion from League One with his side last season, is just games away from firing the Tractor Boys back into the Premier League for the first time since the 2001/02 campaign when they were relegated from the top flight under the management of George Burley.
Manchester United are now reported to have solid interest in bringing McKenna back to the club as the permanent manager after he worked there previously under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho. The Northern Irish coach spent five years with the Red Devils before departing for Portman Road in 2021.
During his time as part of the coaching staff at Old Trafford, McKenna helped guide them to a second and third-place finish in the Premier League and also helped create a record in the 2020/21 season, with the team becoming the highest-scoring United side in a single season since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
The report suggests that some inside the Theatre of Dreams view the current Ipswich Town manager as a future Manchester United manager and could slot perfectly into the new model that INEOS are anticipated to implement in the coming months.
McKenna’s side are currently one point ahead of Leeds United, who sit in second place. The young coach’s team have lost the fewest number of games in the league this season and are the league’s highest goalscorers at present, bagging seven more than their closest competitor, Leicester City.
The Tractor Boys face a trip away to Carrow Road on Saturday to face Norwich City, before returning to Portman Road to play Watford in the midweek fixture on Wednesday.
Writer’s View
McKenna fits the rumoured profile INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are looking for in their next manager at Manchester United, but the best decision for the Northern Irish coach would be to stick with Ipswich Town if they win promotion to the Premier League. It would do the world of good for his experience.
He can build his resume significantly over the coming seasons, with the view to perhaps taking the United job a couple of years down the line when the pressure for imminent success may be lessened with INEOS changing the structure internally.
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