Leicester City & Marti Cifuentes may be laughing to the bank as Ipswich Town, Kasey McAteer windfall revealed | OneFootball

Ipswich Town have agreed a £12 million fee with Leicester City for winger Kasey McAteer.

Ipswich Town have agreed a fee with Leicester City for Republic of Ireland international winger Kasey McAteer, with the 23-year-old having already completed a medical with the Tractor Boys.

McAteer played a sporadic role for the Foxes last season as they were relegated from the Premier League, making just 18 appearances all campaign, primarily as a substitute, scoring once and assisting a further one.

It has now been reported by The Athletic that Leicester have decided to accept a bid worth £12 million across three seasons from Ipswich after knocking back prior bids from the club, with McAteer set to sign a four-year contract in Suffolk.

Ipswich have seen Omari Hutchinson, Liam Delap, Nathan Broadhead and Marcus Harness all depart the club this summer, and are looking at the Irishman as an option to rejuvenate their attack.

Kieran McKenna's side are without a win after three games this season, drawing 1-1 in all three, away at Birmingham City, then in the League Cup, away to Bromley - where they were later knocked out on penalties - and at home to Southampton in the Championship.

Having already completed a deal to sign Chuba Akpom on-loan from Ajax, beating rivals Birmingham to his signature, McAteer is set to become their seventh signing of the summer, and McKenna will hope that he is able to help to replace the output of their outgoings.

Leicester City and Martin Cifuentes will be delighted to receive an eight-figure fee for Kasey McAteer

McAteer has spent his entire career with Leicester since coming through the ranks at the club, aside from separate loan spells with Forest Green Rovers and AFC Wimbledon.

Having been fully integrated into the first-team fold during Leicester's 2023/24 Championship-winning campaign, he has played much of a bit-part role, never fully displacing Stephy Mavididi, Abdul Fatawu or Bilal Al Khannouss on the flanks.

This season, under Cifuentes, McAteer has appeared as a substitute in both Championship fixtures so far, but has now seemingly fallen down the pecking order behind 16-year-old Jeremy Monga, who became the youngest scorer in Championship history with his goal in the Foxes' 2-1 loss away to Preston North End over the weekend.

Cifuentes will be delighted with the eight-figure sum, which he hopes will be reinvested wisely ahead of another promotion push this season.

Leicester, of course, have found it difficult to bolster their squad and replace the number of sanctioned outgoings owing to PSR concerns, though they will receive a much-welcomed cash windfall from McAteer, the kind which few may have really expected.

Supporters have already taken to social media to express their surprise at the club netting an eight-figure sum for McAteer, whose sale will also be declared as full profit due to his status as a graduate from the Foxes' youth system.

Kasey McAteer failed to establish himself in the starting lineup consistently at Leicester City

The out-of-favour winger is on his way to Ipswich as Leicester will collect a £12 million fee for a 23-year-old academy product who has made just 56 appearances across all competitions for the club.

With McAteer never nailing down a place as a starter for the Foxes, his sale, on the surface, appears to be a win-win situation for all involved.

Leicester receive a generous fee for a 23-year-old who failed to fully establish himself, McAteer gets a fresh start at a new and competitive side where he will likely get more minutes, and Ipswich strengthen their attacking options after an array of outgoings.

Whether the Foxes will rue this sale in years to come remains to be seen, but at the moment they will be delighted with the fee they have received for the wide-man.