Ipswich Town have seven senior players now heading into the final year of their contracts. STUART WATSON outlines who he thinks should be handed new deals this summer.
LAST SUMMER
The Town hierarchy moved swiftly on the contract front following the conclusion of the 2021/22 season.
On May 16, little more than a fortnight on from a 4-0 home win against Charlton confirming a 13th-place League One finish, WES BURNS penned a new three-year deal. The Welsh winger still had two years left to run on his previous one, but this was reward for an impressive 13-goal, awards-laden debut season for the club.
Manager Kieran McKenna said: “It's vital that we secure the services of our strong players ahead of what will be a competitive division in League One next season."
The following day it was announced that KAYDEN JACKSON – who was all set to become a free agent given the club had taken his one-year extension option the previous summer – had signed a new two-year contract.
That news, for reference, came two weeks on from the retained list having been announced.
The day after that, homegrown defender LUKE WOOLFENDEN (who, like Burns, still had two years left on his contract) signed a fresh three-year deal.
Later in the off-season, youngsters CAMERON HUMPHREYS (June 8), ELKAN BAGGOTT (June 16) and CORRIE NDABA (July 27) signed new three-year deals.
Around three weeks on from putting pen to paper, Baggott and Ndaba were loaned to Gillingham and Burton respectively to gain further experience.
Then, following a string of assured displays for the first team leading up to the turn of the year, Humphreys signed a new and improved three-and-a-half year contract (January 13).
“The manager said I deserved a reward in the form of a new deal,” said Humphreys. "It was a bit of a surprise, having only just signed one (seven months earlier). Hopefully I can repay them now with performances on the pitch.”
MORE RECENTLY...
On April 4, as Town’s promotion charge was gathering momentum, the club announced they had taken the option to extend JANOI DONACIEN’s contract by 12 months.
On May 23, the club released its retained list and revealed that both MASSIMO LUONGO and SONE ALUKO – both of whom were set to be out of contract – had been offered new deals. The length of those is currently unclear.
TOP PRIORITIES...
Eleven senior players are now heading into the final year of their contracts with no evidence of the club having a 12-month extension option in place.
I’ve mentioned Donacien. There’s also Vaclav Hladky, Nick Hayes, Greg Leigh, Lee Evans, Dominic Ball, Kyle Edwards, Jackson and Joe Pigott. A combination of injuries and current squad status means there is no rush to start talks with those nine.
The other two, however, should be of pressing concern.
CONOR CHAPLIN has scored 40 goals in his first two seasons for the club, not once playing as an out-and-out striker.
The last time he played in the Championship he was part of a Barnsley side that finished fifth. He returns to the second-tier a better player and, at 26 years of age, has room to improve further under elite coaching.
On top of that, he’s really embraced the community aspect of the football club.
I’d be staggered if a new three-year deal isn’t in the offing.
SAM MORSY, meanwhile, is the beating heart of the side and standard-setter on the training pitch.
He’s settled in Suffolk, has struck up a strong relationship with McKenna and will bring some important Championship experience to the group next season. Off the pitch he has a vital role to play in mentoring the younger players too.
Might negotiations be based around contract length?
Town’s skipper turns 32 in September, but that’s no age in the modern game. A consummate pro who lives right and is always looking for marginal gains, both physical and psychological, I genuinely think his best days are still ahead of him.
Personally, I wouldn’t think twice about handing him a three-year deal too.
ASSETS TO PROTECT...
With the club holding a one-year extension option, goalkeeper CHRISTIAN WALTON is effectively a protected asset until 2025.
I wouldn’t want to risk him starring in the Championship next season though – a real possibility – and the Blues subsequently being left vulnerable to clubs higher up the food chain turning his head and forcing a cut-price sale.
Goalkeepers don’t peak until their 30s and Walton, who is highly ambitious, is still just 27. He’s another I’d be looking to tie down to a longer deal this summer.
The same is true of LEIF DAVIS. Okay, he only signed a three-year deal last summer. But off the back of an outstanding debut season for the Blues – which included 14 assists from left-back – I think it’s time to reward and protect.
The 23-year-old is a Premier League player in the making and, like Walton, it’s prudent for Ipswich to make sure they can extract full market value for him if a time ever arrives where the speed of his growth exceeds that of the club’s.
One more player I’d put in this section is IDRIS EL MIZOUNI.
The 22-year-old midfielder has just earned rave reviews for his role in Leyton Orient winning the League Two title and is reportedly attracting interest from a string of Championship and League One clubs as a result.
My gut feeling is that there’s too much traffic in his way to be part of McKenna’s first-team squad this coming season, but that Ipswich won’t yet want to sell a player they’ve developed for several years and whose ceiling is unknown.
If it is to be another loan away (hopefully at a top end League One club) then maybe that is softened with a new deal that says ‘we still see your future here’.
THE BOSS...
One of the first things people have asked me since Ipswich secured promotion is ‘can we keep hold of McKenna?’
My answer to that is always yes. KIERAN MCKENNA chose his first job in management very carefully. He’s working for owners who are backing him financially and a chief executive, in Mark Ashton, who is letting him get on with the job.
Right now, and hopefully for a few years to come, individual and collective ambitions are in sync.
There will come a point, I believe, that a head-turning opportunity will arise for Town’s talented young boss. Whether that’s Manchester United or a stepping stone to them, I don’t know.
Would McKenna signing a new deal now change any of that? No. The length of managerial contracts tend to be more about dictating compensation rather than the timings of departures.
For the record, the Northern Irishman is contracted at Portman Road until 2025.
“I think we all want to see Kieran here for the foreseeable future,” said Ashton, when asked about McKenna’s contract by TWTD in March.
“We don’t really talk about it. That will take care of itself at the right time.”
ITFC CONTRACTS
* Indicates known 12-month extension option in club’s favour.
Out of contract and negotiating: Luongo, Aluko.
2024: Walton*, Hladky, Hayes, Donacien, Burgess*, Leigh, Morsy, Evans, Ball, Camara*, Harper*, El Mizouni*, Jackson, Edwards, Chaplin, Pigott.
2025: Edmundson, Woolfenden, Ndaba*, Baggott*, Davis*, Burns, Harness*, Ladapo, Ahadme*.
2026: Clarke*, Humphreys, Broadhead.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here