What Kieran McKenna has said about recalling Conor Chaplin to Ipswich Town from Portsmouth in January | OneFootball

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has opened up on the surprise decision to send forward Conor Chaplin out on loan to Portsmouth.

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has hinted forward Conor Chaplin could still have a future at Portman Road, despite making the surprise decision to allow him to join Portsmouth on loan.

Chaplin made the move to Ipswich from Barnsley in the summer of 2021, and he has scored 55 goals and provided 18 assists in 174 games for the club during a hugely successful spell in Suffolk.

The 28-year-old was an integral part of the side that won back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, but his place in the team was much less secure in the top flight last season, with only 11 of his 23 appearances coming from the start, although he was sidelined with a knee injury for over three months in the second half of the campaign.

Chaplin came on as a substitute in the Tractor Boys' first three league games of the season, but he started the 2-2 draw against Derby County before the international break, so it certainly raised a few eyebrows when he returned to former club Portsmouth on a season-long loan on deadline day.

However, the move does not necessarily mean that Chaplin's Ipswich career is over because, while his contract is set to expire next summer, the club are believed to have an option to extend his deal for a further year, and they are also able to recall the forward from his loan spell at Fratton Park in January.

Kieran McKenna drops Conor Chaplin, Ipswich Town recall hint

As he opened up about Chaplin's shock exit, McKenna admitted it was a tough decision to sanction his departure given his importance to Ipswich in recent years, but he insisted he will be keeping a close eye on his progress at Portsmouth as he weighs up whether to bring him back to Portman Road in January.

"I’m sure anyone who was bored over the international break has seen the piece that we done on the club channels," McKenna said, as quoted by TWTD.

"I’ve spoken about that but for Conor I don’t mind again.

"As I’ve said, he’s someone who I hold and everyone at the club holds in the highest regard as a person and as a player. Like we do with all the players really, but especially in Conor’s case, I’ve had honest conversations with him right through the off-season, pre-season and last season as well.

"He’s someone who went from starting lots of games for us to last year not starting quite so many games. His injury record is really good, but he had a pretty significant injury and missed quite a lot of time in the second half of last season.

"Coming into the season knowing that the competition for minutes was going to be really tough with the other options that we have, of course Conor was competing for those minutes like everybody else.

"Some of those conversations were along the appropriate lines of it being really important at the stage of Conor’s career to be starting games week in, week out, especially having not done it last year.

"His love for the club and want to stay part of the group was counteracted by knowing for his career that it’s really important he starts regularly this year because he’s got years ahead as a player and wants to be in the best position for those.

"The opportunity came up pretty late on with the offer to go on loan to Portsmouth, it’s something that he wanted to look into. He is a big loss to the group, but at the same time, he’s a modern legend of the club and deserved the respect to look at options and what is best for him.

"In the end, he decided that a loan move to Portsmouth, where he has a great history, his local team, where he’s got a great chance to play regularly, of course with the opportunity to even come back here in January if not the summer, was a good move for him, and we have depth in those positions that we feel we can still have a successful season.

"It was the decision that he reached and we support him with it. We’ll all be watching his games and wishing him the best and staying in very close contact."

Portsmouth will have Conor Chaplin, Ipswich Town fear after Kieran McKenna comments

With a number of other members of the double promotion-winning squad departing this summer, it is fair to say that Ipswich's decision to loan Chaplin out to Portsmouth on deadline day did not go down too well with supporters.

As McKenna said, the Tractor Boys have plenty of depth in the number 10 position with the likes of Sammie Szmodics and Chuba Akpom on their books, but Chaplin was one of the stars of their previous Championship promotion success, and with the team struggling for goals in the early weeks of the season, the club took a big risk in allowing him to leave.

However, it is clear from McKenna's comments that he is a big admirer of Chaplin, and with the Northern Irishman refusing to rule out recalling him in January, Portsmouth may be fearful that his return to Fratton Park could be a brief one, particularly if he performs well.