Ipswich Town backed to sign 'high-quality' Fulham ace - he could solve Kieran McKenna issue | OneFootball

The Tractor Boys have been linked with a move for Fulham captain Tom Cairney

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ipswich Town have been backed to complete the high-profile signing of Fulham captain and modern-day icon, Tom Cairney.

The Tractor Boys have enjoyed a recent resurgence under Kieran McKenna, with the pre-season promotion favourites now just two points outside the Championship's automatic promotion places at the beginning of January.

The Northern Irishman's side, of course, had returned to the top two on New Year's Day, but were overtaken by rivals Middlesbrough last weekend after their away trip to relegation-threatened Portsmouth was postponed.

After being relegated from the Premier League last term, supporters of opposition clubs and pundits have continued to reference the strength-in-depth McKenna has at his disposal across many departments, despite there being a fair amount of turnover in the summer transfer window at Portman Road.

One element which cannot be disputed, though, is the spending and pulling power which the Blues have been able to recently utilise under the ownership of Gamechanger 20 Limited.

This saw them part with a Championship-record sum for an incoming in the previous window, acquiring Norwegian wonderkid, Sindre Walle Egeli, for a reported £17.5m.

However, at the beginning of the winter window, which remains open until Monday, February 2nd, Ipswich have already been linked with a handful of transfer moves

A move for the Cottagers captain certainly sits at the top of the list in terms of statements, with the Scottish international playmaker previously amongst the Championship's best players when the West London side earned promotion in both 2018, 2020 and most recently, 2022.

Yet, whilst Cairney is now at the age of 34, Football League World's Ipswich Town fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, believes it would represent a shrewd piece of business.

Ipswich Town backed to striker Fulham, Tom Cairney transfer agreement - he could help sove Tractor Boys issues

Wilkin believes that the potential acquisition of Cairney could help McKenna fix a major issue in terms of Town's style of play, which has been apparent across a handful of Championship outings.

It has been well-documented that the two-time Tartan Army midfielder has extremely strong vision and composure on the ball - two facets which have helped his current and former employers, such as Blackburn Rovers, unlock opposition defences who sit in a low block.

"I think Tom Cairney would be an excellent signing," Wilkin told FLW.

"He'd bring experience to what is a fairly young squad. He's got high-level Premier League experience as well.

"He certainly fills the gap in terms of what our midfield has been missing, with Marcelino Nunez moving forward into the number '10' role and us playing more of a midfield three at times in recent games, which I'd say is probably Cairney's best position - in front of a more defensive midfielder," he explained.

"It still doesn't solve the cover for Azor Matusiwa if he does get injured. I think that's something that we're still lacking.

"But, he (Cairney) is another player who can unpick the door of a creative midfielder. We've struggled against low block teams, so I can see his addition helping with that," Wilkin added.

"He's a high-quality player. Every Fulham fan I've spoken to rates him highly, even though he doesn't get that much gametime.

"If that's the sort of move he's looking for at this stage in his career, he could be one that really makes a difference in getting us over the line for promotion."

Comments from Cairney's current boss, Marco Silva, will certainly encourage those of an Ipswich persuasion.

The Portuguese revealed on Friday afternoon that Town do hold an interest in his services, months after divisional rivals, Wrexham, plotted a move for his services in the summer.

"The interest from Ipswich is there. I didn't have any conversation with Tom about it yet," said Silva.

Cairney has made 13 Premier League appearances for Fulham so far this campaign and is out-of-contract on June 30th. However, his overall record at Championship level is extremely strong, scoring 45 times and posting 51 assists in 318 second tier outings.