Ipswich Town urged to swerve Sam Morsy reunion after shock Kuwait SC exit - "We've moved on" | OneFootball

The former Tractor Boys captain has already left the Middle Eastern side

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's current predicament is one that has certainly generated plenty of excitement around the Portman Road club, despite just being relegated from the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys were tipped, by many supporters and outsiders, to be among the immediate front-runners when it came to achieving automatic promotion or even winning the Championship title this season, with the squad at Kieran McKenna's disposal a big influence on such claims.

It would be fair to say that the Northern Irishman's side haven't exactly backed up such predictions as of yet, with Town enduring a slow start to the campaign overall, despite a 5-0 home win against Sheffield United on September 12th reminding the rest of the second tier exactly what they are capable of.

Over the past year or so, there has been a major shift in terms of the calibre of players that have been attracted to Portman Road, which, in turn, left stalwarts from the club's back-to-back promotion-winning exploits between 2022 and 2024 behind, including ex-captain Sam Morsy.

The modern-day cult hero left the Blues to join Kuwait SC on July 24th, but left the club earlier this week in bizzare circumstances. However, with the 33-year-old's short-term options somewhat limited until the winter, FLW's Ipswich fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, believes the club shouldn't look to reunite with their former skipper.

Ipswich Town urged to swerve Sam Morsy reunion after premature Kuwait SC exit

Morsy joined Ipswich in the summer of 2021 from Middlesbrough, midway through the club's four-season spell in League One, with the aforementioned McKenna joining later in the calendar year.

The Wolverhampton-born Egyptian international would become a midfield lynchpin after being named club captain in October 2021, making 165 appearances for the club and captaining a side which netted 193 goals in 92 league games during the double-promotion success, before making 33 appearances in the Premier League last term.

Following his departure, Town were able to lure Jens Cajuste on loan from Napoli for a second successive campaign, as well as the addition of Azor Matusiwa from Rennes.

Yet despite penning a lucrative two-year contract in the Middle East, Morsy's spell with Kuwait would prove extremely short-lived, as it was reported by Qatari-based outlet, AlkassSports, that he had mutually agreed to leave the club after just three appearances - the last of which he received a red card in against Al-Arabi - as they look to recruit another foreign player whilst adhering to strict quota rules.

Some have argued that Town have missed Morsy's presence and leadership in their inconsistent start. However, Wilkin is of the opinion that the club shouldn't look to re-sign him in January when he is allowed to sign for an English side, should he wish to.

"It sounds like he's been a victim of the foreign player registration rule over there," Wilkin told FLW.

"From what it looks like, it doesn't seem to be entirely his choice.

"It was always a bit of a strange move. The lack of competitiveness in the league, but you could hardly of blamed him for wanting the payday.

"I can't see him coming back to Ipswich in a playing role," Wilkin admitted.

"I think that time has passed now, we've moved on, we're going through a midfield rebuild and it would seem to be a backwards move.

"I could see him, potentially, coming back in training with us and being in an ambassador, coaching or leadership role. But, then you've got to see if that would upset the new leadership team or anything like that.

"I still think he's got the ability to play at Championship level, but it will be interesting to see where he ends up, whether he wants to play football before January, which rules out a lot of places - Turkey is still an option or his home country, Egypt.

"If he can pull one of those off, I think that's more likely than a Championship turn. And, if it is a Championship return, I don't think it would be with Ipswich Town," Adam concluded.

Sam Morsy faces big short-term career call after Kuwait SC developments

Much like Wilkin, many would believe that Morsy could still handle the rigours of the Championship right now, having previously been linked with a move to Derby County prior to his switch to the Kuwaiti top flight.

However, his immediate career is now in limbo. As he was permanently contracted to his most-recent employers by the time the summer transfer deadline passed, the midfielder cannot sign for a new club until January, despite now being on the free agent market.

Yet, once the next transfer window does come around, the experienced figure will be viewed as a potential bargain signing for many clubs in England and on the continent, with Morsy's performances somewhat going under-the-radar in comparison to many of his peers, unafraid to win plenty of duels in the middle of the park before progressing play forward to flair players as soon as possible.

But, it would seem highly unlikely that he would be offered regular minutes in Suffolk right now, regardless of the sentiment which would be attached to any deal.