Leicester City are laughing loudest at Ipswich Town transfer right now | OneFootball

Leicester City currently look to be the winner from this transfer saga

Leicester City have experienced an okay opening innings to the 2025/26 Championship campaign but would’ve hoped to be closer to the top of the table at this moment in time.

The Foxes became the first Premier League team to lose eight top-flight games in a row without scoring a single goal last term, which led to a disappointing relegation back to the Championship just one year after clinching the second-tier title.

Mart Cifuentes was chosen as the man to lead Leicester forward this season and there have been some positive flashes under the Spaniard’s leadership.

The King Power Stadium outfit sit 10th in the Championship after 12 matches, which remarkably, is the highest position out of all three of the relegated sides from the Premier League.

Leicester have picked up points in 9 of their first 12 matches, but a tendency to draw more often than win has hampered how much progress the side has made up the table.

The Foxes are already 11 points behind league leaders Coventry City, a gap that has grown significantly in recent times due to back-to-back defeats at the hands of Hull City and Millwall.

In fact, Cifuentes’ side has only claimed victory in one of their last eight league matches, which highlights just how much they are struggling to be decisive in contests which has subsequently hurt their chances of automatic promotion.

Despite this poor run of form, there has been one positive aspect of Leicester City’s season thus far at the expense of one of their fellow sides relegated from the Premier League.

Much like Leicester City, Ipswich Town arrived back in the Championship after a disappointing year of failing to establish themselves in the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys turned to the transfer market ahead of the 2025/26 campaign in an attempt to boost their ranks for a promotion push, with Kasey McAteer acquired from the Foxes for a whopping £12 million.

McAteer came through the Leicester City academy and made 18 Premier League appearances for the club last term, before featuring twice in the second-tier for the Foxes at the start of the current term.

Given the 23-year-old's lofty potential and evident talent, this was viewed as quite a coup by Ipswich, especially as it saw them take one of their potential promotion rivals’ academy talents from under their nose.

However, McAteer has struggled to get going at Portman Road. He has played just six times in the second-tier, and is yet to record a goal contribution for Kieran McKenna’s side.

With forwards such as Sindre Egeli, Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke who can also operate out of the right wing position, it seems almost impossible for the former Leicester prospect to get into the Ipswich team.

The Foxes will take great satisfaction in the fact that they managed to bring in £12m for McAteer’s services and that he hasn’t managed to perform at Portman Road thus far.

Although the season hasn’t gone perfectly for Leicester at this moment in time, they don’t have to feel the regret of watching one of their academy products helping fire a rival up towards the top of the Championship, which will come as a huge relief.

There is still time for Kasey McAteer to perform at Portman Road

Although life at Ipswich Town hasn’t started perfectly for McAteer, there is still plenty of time for him to turn the situation around.

At 23 years of age, the forward is still developing and growing as a footballer, which is a task made much harder when you are made to join a new environment filled with talented operators in your position.

McKenna and Co. clearly rate him very highly to expend £12m to secure his services, which means that they are probably willing to afford him ample opportunities to settle into the squad.

Therefore, McAteer shouldn’t worry too much about trying to impress immediately and instead gradually start to grow into his new role at Ipswich Town, showing slowly that he was it takes to regularly start on the right flank at Portman Road.