Ipswich Town 'confused' verdict offered on £12m recruit – He’s got 'a battle on his hands' for Kieran McKenna place | OneFootball

FLW’s Ipswich Town fan pundit has offered his thoughts on the start Kasey McAteer has made at Portman Road.

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…

After a slow start upon their return to the Championship, Ipswich Town are now showing signs of picking up the pace and getting themselves into the promotion conversation.

The Tractor Boys were winless from their opening four Championship outings as they struggled to adapt following their relegation from the Premier League, but it now appears the hangover has cleared after an excellent run of form over the past few weeks.

Kieran McKenna’s men have now won three out of their last four games, including ending a 16-year wait for victory in the East Anglian derby after beating Norwich City 3-1 last weekend at Portman Road.

This run has seen Ipswich go on the periphery of the top six, with 13 points collected from their eight league outings, while they have a game in hand on the rest of the promotion-chasing pack as they are due to play their rearranged game against Blackburn Rovers.

The early-season skepticism now seems to have eased in Suffolk, with the team and fans now believing they have the attributes in the squad to claim an instant return to the big time.

Kasey McAteer game time chances questioned amid increased Ipswich Town competition

Over the course of the summer transfer window, the Ipswich hierarchy revamped the playing squad by bringing 11 new players into the building.

One of those was winger Kasey McAteer, who linked up from Leicester City for a reported fee of £12m.

It was a sizeable investment for the former Foxes academy player, who had experience of securing promotion while in the East Midlands in 2024.

With this in mind, Football League World's Ipswich Town fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, has commented on the start McAteer has made to life at Portman Road and whether he has justified his price tag in the early stages.

Wilkin believes that Kasey McAteer is showing small improvements in his game as he adjusts to life at Portman Road, but questions his first-team opportunities moving forward with an increased amount of competition on the right-wing.

Adam said: “McAteer was one of the transfers that I was the most confused about during the summer, as to me, it represented a large amount of money for someone who hadn’t really proved his value too much at Leicester, as he was a bit part player there.

“Looking at it further, you can see why we recruited him for our right-wing profile that we have in terms of his defensive work off the ball, and I think if he can develop his attacking work, then he can become a valuable player.

“The signs haven’t been great the first few games in terms of performances, but he is getting used to a new team, a new formation, all that stuff, and I think for me, every game he’s played, he has made slight improvements.

“With the signing of Sindre Walle Egeli now, it remains to be seen how much game time he’ll actually get.

"Obviously, we have players like (Wes) Burns coming back into contention, so he’s definitely got a battle on his hands, but we should at least break even with him in the long-term as he’s still a young player, a Republic of Ireland international and still has plenty of time to develop.”

Kasey McAteer may be questioning decision to join Ipswich Town

From five second-tier appearances for Ipswich Town so far (excluding Blackburn game that was called off), McAteer hasn’t been able to record a direct goal contribution for his new team yet, while his minutes have also been quite scattered.

This has involved three starts and two cameo appearances off the bench, while he remained an unused substitute in the East Anglian derby.

As our Ipswich fan pundit alluded to as well, McAteer is only going to face an influx of competition on the right side due to the arrival of Walle Egeli, and the imminent return of Wes Burns, so it remains to be seen what his first-team chances look like moving forward.

If between now and January he is unable to stake a claim for regular first-team football, then a loan move away could be the answer, while the 23-year-old may be fearing he has made the wrong move and should have chosen a Championship side who would have made him one of the first names on their teamsheet.

While McAteer could go on a blistering run of form between now and the turn of the new year, the signs don’t seem promising right now, and it will be intriguing to see how his future at Ipswich maps out in the coming months.

The young Irishman needs to be playing regular football at this stage of his career, and if he isn't guaranteed that at Portman Road moving forward, then this could have the potential of being a transfer that Ipswich may need to cut their losses on in the near future for the sake of the player.