Ipswich Town: Chris Sutton urges Kieran McKenna to make Brighton decision | OneFootball

Kieran McKenna has been urged by former Norwich City forward, turned pundit, Chris Sutton to leave Ipswich Town in favour of one of the Premier League jobs that he is said to be in the running for.

It looks like the Tractor Boys are going to struggle to keep the man that led them to back-to-back promotions, as some of the big boys of the Premier League loom.

Chelsea recently parted ways with their manager Mauricio Pochettino, and McKenna is said to be someone that they admire as they look to replace the Argentine. Manchester United, too, have been linked with a move for their former backroom staff member.

The frontrunners appear to be Brighton & Hove Albion though, who are in advanced talks with the Northern Irishman, according to talkSPORT.

Ipswich have done their best to try and keep him, with reports of a new deal including a quadrupling of his current wage packet being offered to McKenna, as per The Sun, but the BBC believe that he is set to turn down any new deal.

So this glorious run seems to be coming to an end for Town and their beloved manager. But what's next for him?

Sutton has identified the team he feels that the 37-year-old should join.

Chris Sutton states where Kieran McKenna should go next

The radio presenter has said that he would opt to be the man to replace Roberto de Zerbi at Brighton, if he were in the shoes of McKenna.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sutton said, via EADT: "I’d go to Brighton. We’ve seen the three promoted clubs from last season go straight back down and I look at Brighton’s squad and I look at Ipswich’s squad…

"I think the whole story at Ipswich is incredible, the job that Kieran McKenna has done. I think that if you looked at the majority of the squad and the team who played in League One, the mainstays of that team got them up out of the Championship.

"So then to go again and stay in the Premier League, I think we’d all agree that’s a very tall order, but it’s not impossible.

"You then look at the Brighton squad and who has a better opportunity of staying up?

"McKenna, his reputation has gone through the roof," continued the former City player. "We’ve all got good hearts and we all understand loyalty – and loyalty is important. But there is also ambition, and Kieran must be fiercely ambitious, so it’s about making that next step.

"This isn’t because I live near Norwich and played for Norwich City at all, it’s about a career move and what is the next best step for Kieran McKenna. I think it’s logical for him to move.

"Ipswich fans won’t like me saying that, but I really do. Just because of playing personnel.

"I don’t know what Ipswich’s budget is and how much money they have to spend - but we have seen the lesson which Kieran McKenna surely must have learned, when he sees Burnley spend £100m or whatever it is, Luton didn’t spend wildly, but they’ve all come straight back down.

"That’s something which I’m sure he’s looked at."

Brighton move makes the most sense of all Premier League options for McKenna

To be frank, a departure from Portman Road doesn't feel like a necessity for the Town boss to continue to progress. Sure, a team like Brighton would give him a better platform to succeed, but he's still less than a few years into his career as a boss.

It seems a departure is inevitable, though, and the south coast is the best direction for him to head. There won't be massive pressure on him to immediately succeed, the club functions really well, especially when compared to Chelsea and Man United, and it should allow him to continue his rate of growth as a boss.

The other two options have the ability to completely consume him and spit him out again in six months' time. It'd be a massive risk to make a leap like that. Brighton feels like the more natural progression.