Ipswich Town’s deal for a young Premier League talent has been completed, but manager Kieran McKenna’s plan for the player does not involve first-team minutes this season.
McKenna trying to remain positive after draw
It hasn’t been an ideal return to the Championship for the Tractor Boys, with Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Derby County leaving them 20th in the league table.
Despite this, McKenna till tried to find positives after the game, saying he could see signs of improvement compared to the opening weeks of the campaign.
“We’ve been through a lot today and the supporters have been through a lot. There was a really good performance out there. You can see the growth in the team. You can see the direction of travel. You can see players coming in now having a big impact and the potential for us to really push on.
“But you can also see the challenges of the division and how hard people are going to make it for us. How we’re probably not up to full speed yet to do it for 90 minutes. How we probably don’t have the full consistency and the confidence in the group to really stay strong in that moment when it went against us with the first goal and we really did lose our way.”
Some late-summer business for Ipswich could help aid their quest to return to the Premier League at the first attempt, but while they are set to seal an exciting new arrival, this one will not boost their promotion hopes this term.
McKenna's plan for Luca Fletcher revealed
As first reported by Fabrizio Romano on X, Ipswich have agreed a deal to sign Manchester City attacker Luca Fletcher on loan for the rest of the season, with an obligation to snap him up permanently. However, Ben Jacobs has since revealed McKenna plans to use him in the youth team only this campaign.
Fletcher is admittedly a young player who is still raw, but he could prove to be such an exciting addition for Ipswich, initially shining in the youth team before making the grade at senior level. The 18-year-old striker bagged 20 goal contributions in just 46 appearances for City’s Under-18s, highlighting his prolific end product, and he is also a 12-cap England Under-17 international.
Bringing in talented homegrown youngsters is always something that should be encouraged at Ipswich, and with Fletcher’s path to the first team likely to be blocked at City, given their elite attacking talent, this could be a perfect move for him.