Kieran McKenna has a Championship cheat code for Ipswich Town - He must unlock it | OneFootball

Ipswich Town's squad boasts a lot of proven Championship talent, and a wing duo of Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene could be incredibly dangerous

Ipswich Town’s summer business in the 2024/25 season included a plethora of high-quality Championship stars from the season prior.

Kieran McKenna gave a lot of up-and-coming players the chance to perform in the Premier League for the first time. Whilst it was very much a sink or swim situation in the top-flight campaign, which ended in relegation, looking back, it could almost be seen as a win-win.

Either these players would excel after taking the step-up, and McKenna’s side would survive, or Ipswich would suffer relegation and, barring a mass player exodus, would instantly have one of the best teams in the following Championship season.

Liam Delap is currently the only big-money departure from Portman Road this summer, and whilst more may follow him out of the door before August 8th’s Championship opener against Birmingham City, Kieran McKenna should look to do his best to retain the services of Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke, especially this summer.

If he can, then the Tractor Boys will arguably have the best wing pairing in the entire division.

Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene's previous Championship seasons

Jack Clarke’s Championship exploits have seen him make the switch to a Premier League side twice now in his short career.

His breakout campaign under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United saw Tottenham Hotspur swoop in for a £10 million switch, but his time at Spurs never got going, and he found himself dropping to League One at Sunderland.

Following the Black Cats’ promotion back to the second tier, Clarke was able to re-establish himself as one of the second tier’s more feared wide men, chipping in with goals and assists at the Stadium of Light with ease, netting 24 and assisting 16 in his two Championship seasons with Sunderland.

The goal involvements prompted Ipswich to secure his services in a deal which could end up costing as much as £20 million.

As for Jaden Philogene, his second-tier career isn’t as expansive as Clarke’s, but his 2023/24 campaign with Hull City saw him become one of the more dynamic, feared players in the division following a bright spell the previous year on loan at Cardiff City.

He ranked in the top 3% of right-wingers in successful dribbles in the 2023/24 campaign, assisted six goals and scored a further 12, one of which against Rotherham United was shortlisted for the 2024 Puskas Award following a rabona effort from an almost impossible angle.

As a result, Aston Villa re-signed the 23-year-old 12 months on from selling him to Hull, but his return to Villa Park lasted just six months before Ipswich bought him for £20 million.

Clarke and Philogene couldn't find that form in the Premier League - a drop to the Championship can revitalise their careers at Ipswich Town

At just 23 and 24 years old, respectively, there's no denying that Clarke and Philogene could be major players in a Premier League side in the future, but things didn't work out in the 2024/25 campaign.

Clarke never played in the Premier League at Tottenham, but his first crack at the top flight with Ipswich saw him fail to score as he started just 12 of his 32 games.

Philogene was a bit-part player at Aston Villa, starting just twice in the first half of the Premier League campaign last season. He earned more minutes at Ipswich, but Kieran McKenna’s side were almost already destined for relegation, and the 23-year-old ended the campaign in the treatment room after suffering an MCL injury against Chelsea.

Because neither excelled in their full debut top-flight campaigns, neither will be on the shortlists of Premier League sides this summer, so Ipswich will likely go into the 2025/26 season with both Clarke and Philogene among their ranks.