Ipswich Town stance on Kieran McKenna, Brighton and Chelsea situation revealed | OneFootball

Ipswich Town's stance on Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea's interest in manager Kieran McKenna has been revealed.

After a gloriously unlikely promotion, and some well-earned celebrations, Ipswich fans have been brought crashing down to the reality that they live in. Town are not one of the biggest teams in the country, and, as such, their best assets are likely to get picked off by those who are among the bigger of boys.

The back-to-back promotions that they achieved, going from League One to the Premier League in the quickest possible manner, is something that has rarely been achieved.

These feats tend to prick the ears of both fans and clubs. That alerting of ones senses has certainly happened with a few top sides in England, as reports suggest that they are looking to raid Portman Road and take its most cherished asset: McKenna.

The Northern Irishman is going to be a top flight coach regardless of what happens this summer, but Town fans are hopeful that he will show some more loyalty to the club that gave him his first chance as a manager.

While the future of the 37-year-old is uncertain, the position of the Tractor Boys is not.

Ipswich Town's stance on Kieran McKenna links to Chelsea and Brighton

Ipswich are reported to be calm about the situation surrounding their boss, and the noise and speculation that has come with it, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

The wheels on a potential McKenna departure started turning when the Seagulls announced that their manager, Roberto de Zerbi, would leave the club at the end of the 23/24 campaign. Immediately the Town boss was mentioned as one of the leading choices to replace the Italian.

Alan Nixon reported that Brighton had been admirers of him for the past half-a-year, and that he was top of their list of choices, if de Zerbi were to go.

As McKenna is still under contract with Ipswich, the Premier League side would need to pay the newly promoted club £6 million in compensation in order to get him, which had gone up from the original £4 million price because of the club's promotion.

The Guardian had said that Chelsea held an interest in the Northern Irishman. After they parted ways with their boss, Mauricio Pochettino, on Tuesday night, speculation about McKenna moving to Stamford Bridge was amped up too, with Fabrizio Romano stating that he is being considered as an option.

Manchester United, whose manager's future is equally uncertain, is another top flight side to have been linked with the Town boss, who worked for the club before joining the Tractor Boys.

McKenna was at the LMA Awards Dinner, where he picked up the Sir Alex Ferguson Trophy and the LMA Manager of the Year award, and said, on his future: "There's always going to be speculation," as per Sky Sports.

Luton Town's Rob Edwards has been identified as a potential replacement for the 37-year-old, as per The Guardian.

Ipswich must get their ducks in order quickly

If one of these teams decides that the reported £6 million fee for McKenna is worth it, and he wants to make the switch, then this could progress very quickly. As such, if Ipswich don't have some sort of succession plan in place soon, if they don't already, then they could be caught short come the start of their first season back in the top division.

Edwards being identified is a good move. He did a decent job with Luton last season, even though they got relegated. Their defensive record was very questionable, which is something you could see as a sticking point, but whether that was down to him or the playing personnel available is up for debate.

They could even look to a Danny Röhl, who has rightly caught the attention of many with his Harry Houdini-esque escape trick that he performed last season as Sheffield Wednesday boss.

Whichever direction they feel they may have to go in, if the current manager goes, they need to have it decided ASAP.