24 May 2024 , 15:28
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Manchester United appear to hold a key edge in the race to recruit Kieran McKenna as manager.
The Ipswich Town boss is hot property this summer after guiding the club to two promotions in as many full seasons at Portman Road. The Tractor Boys battled to the odds to finish second in the Championship this term, becoming the first club in 12 years to earn back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League.
Not only does McKenna have history at Old Trafford given he left his role as first-team coach with United to take over at Ipswich in December 2021, but his relationship with the club runs even deeper. And it appears the Red Devils hot seat will soon be vacant following reports incumbent Erik ten Hag will be sacked regardless of the result in Saturday's FA Cup final.
Chelsea and Brighton are supposedly battling United in their bid to lure the Northern Irishman, whom Ipswich will do their utmost to keep for at least another season. However, it was clear from McKenna's days as a midfield prospect at Tottenham that United held a place close to his heart.
In a 2003 interview with Spurs' official website, the 38-year-old was asked for his favourite player growing up and replied: "I have to say Roy Keane." McKenna - who was 17 at the time - saved some face by naming Robbie Keane as his favourite Spurs player, but when asked whom he most admired outside the club, he reiterated: "Roy Keane again."
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As if that wasn't evidence enough of his allegiances to the Theatre of Dreams, McKenna has been candid regarding his lifelong support of the club. It was much more recently that the Enniskillen native discussed his passionate support of the 20-time top-flight champions, whom he previously served under the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho.
"Of course it's a massive and great club anyway, but I grew up as a Man United fan with a Liverpool [supporting] brother, so there was always a passion about the club," McKenna previously confessed. "That was always a goal I wrote down [to work at United].
"That was always an ambition from when I started my coaching career, and when that opportunity [came] it was fantastic for me. Not one that you take too long to think about."
United have already opened talks with McKenna's representatives regarding an Old Trafford comeback. It's understood the upcoming tactician is on a shortlist for the seemingly inevitable United vacancy, with Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel and Thomas Frank among the other names in the running to be hired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Only one of those names has the benefit of prior experiences working at Carrington, though McKenna has come a long way – two divisions, to be exact – since those days. And not only that, but a paper trail of supporting the Red Devils down the years could work in his favour against some stiff competition for the job.
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