Kieran McKenna could finally ditch Kayden Jackson with this Ipswich Town buy.
Ipswich Town will know now, with all the promotion celebrations dying down after an unbelievable Championship final day win over Huddersfield Town, that deadwood still lurking in the Tractor Boys camp will need to be shifted on soon.
Kieran McKenna and Co won’t completely gut the squad that got them up to the promised land of the Premier League, just some moderations here and there to further bolster the heroic team put together by the ex-Manchester United coach.
Kayden Jackson will be fearful about his future in Suffolk if reports are correct, with the long-standing servant pushed even further down the pecking order at Portman Road if a deal for one top attacker can be reached.
Ipswich eyeing up Jackson replacement
Once described as being a “monster” in attack in the Premier League by the Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid, Arsenal centre-forward Eddie Nketiah looks to be at the top of McKenna’s shopping list for Ipswich’s jump up to the top-flight.
The ambitious Tractor Boys, according to TEAMtalk, are very much interested in tempting the reserve Gunners figure to relocate to Suffolk after finding his minutes cut at the Emirates Stadium as of late.
Not coming off the bench for Mikel Arteta’s title hopefuls in their last four league games, Nketiah could jump at the opportunity to move away from North London in the summer to become a leading man for the newly promoted side.
Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace are reportedly also admirers of the 24-year-old attacker, meaning McKenna and Co will have to pull off a coup in getting this deal over the line ahead of the entertaining Eagles.
Why Nketiah must replace Jackson
Ipswich know that they will need additional firepower up top to complement the likes of Nathan Broadhead, George Hirst and Conor Chaplin when adjusting to the demands of the Premier League, with this potential deal putting a final nail in the coffin of Jackson’s up-and-down stay in Suffolk.
The former Accrington Stanley attacker probably knows that he is staring an exit in the face now, having largely underwhelmed throughout his five seasons as an Ipswich player.
Entering into the building during the doomed Paul Hurst era back in 2018 – with the forgotten manager winning just one game in charge from 15 taken – Jackson has only managed to bag an unsatisfactory 28 goals from 199 games as a wasteful striker.
With 11 strikes being his best goal return for a season, it feels like a no-brainer cutting ties with Jackson now after promotion to significantly strengthen with Nketiah – who has 116 Premier League games under his belt – signing on the dotted line.
Boasting a better overall goal return with the Gunners, by netting 38 times from 168 games albeit surrounded by higher-quality talents, the on-the-fringes Arsenal man also has a better goal tally for this season with six managed to Jackson’s lesser three.
| Nketiah vs Jackson – FBRef numbers over the last year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stat per 90 mins | Nketiah | Jackson |
| Non-penalty goals | 0.42 | 0.28 |
| Non-penalty xG | 0.40 | 0.24 |
| Shots total | 3.10 | 1.77 |
| Shot-creating actions | 2.19 | 2.33 |
| Touches in attacking penalty area | 6.77 | 5.04 |
| Sourced by FBRef
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Glancing at a comparison of their attacking statistics above, provided by FBRef, it also feels like a wise decision to try and upgrade on Jackson in the form of Nketiah with the Arsenal man bettering the 30-year-old in key attacking aspects of their respective games.
The 24-year-old could well become a prolific striker in the top-flight with Ipswich surrounded by the wealth of attacking stars McKenna has at his disposal, whereas Jackson will be looking for a move somewhere else in the EFL after just tasting promotion success.
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