Exclusive: Ipswich Town warned over Kasey McAteer fee - Don Goodman: They "will be hoping" for Leicester City repeat | OneFootball

The jury’s out on whether Ipswich Town will be the winners of this Foxes deal

Ipswich Town have dropped a big sum to land attacker Kasey McAteer from Leicester City.

It was officially an undisclosed sum, but a report by BBC Sport claims that the Tractor Boys have paid £12m for his services.

That, combined with the four-year contract he signed on arrival at Portman Road, is a significant outlay for the Championship side.

We asked Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman whether he thinks Ipswich have overpaid for their new signing.

Don Goodman: Kasey McAteer still has a lot to prove

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman said: “Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt that the general consensus is that Kasey McAteer has got massive potential still to fulfil.

“But the general consensus is that £12m is a little bit on the high side. Maybe it's that that is the total if everything goes well, including add-ons.

“But yeah, it's a lot of money for somebody that hasn't yet scored 10 goals in their career.

“But obviously Ipswich saw what we all saw when he was last in the Championship with Leicester City.

“Before picking up a bad injury, he was really influential and a real threat, and that's what Ipswich will be hoping he'll be repeating for them this season.”

Kasey McAteer has shown some promise in the Championship

As Goodman points out, McAteer is not an entirely unknown quantity in the Championship.

In the 2023/24 season, he netted six goals in 23 league appearances, in a campaign that may have seen him rack up higher numbers had it not been for persistent injury concerns.

Nevertheless, his goals were crucial in the Foxes’ title win that year, particularly his brace against Rotherham United in his side’s 2-1 win early in the season, which looks even more important in retrospect, knowing they would go on to lift the title by just one point, narrowly pipping McAteer’s new side, Ipswich, to the post.

But he was less influential in the Premier League, and at 23 years old, he still has work to do to prove his full potential.

Questions may be asked about Ipswich’s need for Kasey McAteer

Regardless of his talent, eyebrows may be raised at the Tractor Boys spending such a significant sum for any player in the positions McAteer is most comfortable.

He is known predominantly as a winger or a no.10, but Ipswich are already stacked in those areas.

They have Chuba Akpom, Sammie Szmodics and Conor Chaplin to operate behind a striker, and already have Jaden Philogene, Jack Clarke and Chiedozie Ogbene out in wide areas, all of whom will expect significant game time.

Kieran McKenna and the decision-makers above him have obviously earmarked a role McAteer can play in the squad or a plan for him over the next four years, but from the outside looking in, what that is is not immediately clear.