Town’s current registered squad cost £126m in fees to assemble, with Paul Heckingbottom (Preston), John Mousinho (Portsmouth), Gerhard Struber (Bristol City) and Liam Manning (Norwich) having all made reference to the Blues’ budget over recent weeks.
“I haven’t really thought about it much, to be honest,” said McKenna, when asked what he made of the above.
“I don’t think it (spending) has a lot of impact. Look, I think we got promoted from the Championship with a higher spend of less than one and a half million (on any one player). So I don’t think anyone can be the team who wants to cry that it’s impossible to do well in this division without spending transfer fees – because it is.
“The volume of good players you can get in the Championship is really high – there are so many players you can get on loan, so many free agents you can pick up. So the gap between the squads and the quality of the players across the level is really, really close. More close than any division in world football probably.
“Generally, our model, since we started in League One, was to try and invest in high potential young players. When we invested in Leif Davis for a million pounds in League One that was a big story. We could sell him now for probably 20-30 times that. Our two biggest signings last summer (Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap) were subsequently sold for club record fees that combined to £70-80 million this summer. And if we wanted to sell any of the current players that we’ve invested in then I think there’d be a pretty good cash return.
“We know the reality of the division and how hard it is. Any football economist would tell you that transfer fees doesn’t equate to points in too many leagues. There’s a hell of a lot of other things that make up a winning team. We know that.
“We also know that we’ve been well supported by the ownership over the last four years to invest in high potential young players, especially British players you’re going to pay a premium for at times, knowing that the returns can be really high.
“We’re really comfortable with the business that the club’s done over the years and the model that’s been in place. If anyone else wants to try and use it as an influence or an outcome of a game, then that’s up to them. I’m sure our supporters will enjoy being on that foot rather than being a team who has been under-invested in for so many years.”
Sunday’s 3-1 East Anglian derby win against Norwich lifted Ipswich (W3 D4 L1) up to ninth in the Championship table with a game in hand to come.
Following this weekend’s international break, the Blues will return to action with a televised Friday night match at high-flying Middlesbrough (W5 D3 L1).
Paul Heckingbottom (Preston)
Speaking after Preston beat Ipswich 1-0 at Deepdale: “Why are we talking about what other clubs are spending, this player, that player? If that was important, we’d have lost the game today. They’re bringing £40 million off the bench, they’ve got unbelievable talent on the bench who don’t come on the pitch. If that was important, if that were the be all and end all, we’d have lost. Quit moaning about stuff like that and focus on what we can do really well.”
John Mousinho (Portsmouth)
Speaking after Portsmouth’s 2-1 defeat at Portman Road: “The fact we’re frustrated to lose against a side that have come down from the Premier League and have spent more on one of their substitutes than we have on our whole squad – which they’ve earned the right to do – shows we’re getting there.”
Gerhard Struber (Bristol City)
Speaking after Bristol City’s 1-1 home draw against Town: “We play against an opponent with £200million of transfer value, of course this looks a little bit different when we look on our transfer value, but we have also a really good group of players with really good quality.”
Liam Manning (Norwich City)
Speaking ahead of Ipswich winning last Sunday’s East Anglian derby 3-1: “You look at them, where they’ve been, the money they’ve spent etcetera, there’ll be pressure that end.”
IPSWICH TOWN’S REGISTERED SQUAD
Alex Palmer (£2m, West Brom)
Christian Walton (nominal, Brighton)
David Button (Reading, free)
Darnell Furlong (£3.5m, West Brom)
Ashley Young (Everton, free)
Ben Johnson (West Ham, free)
Harry Clarke (Arsenal, £1m)
Dara O’Shea (Burnley, £12m)
Jacob Greaves (Hull, £15m)
Cedric Kipre (Reims, loan)
Elkan Baggott (homegrown)
Leif Davis (£1.2m, Leeds)
Azor Matusiwa (Rennes, £7.8m)
Jens Cajuste (Napoli, loan)
Marcelino Nunez (Norwich, £7.5m)
Jack Taylor (Peterborough, £1.5m)
Cameron Humphreys (homegrown)
Sindre Walle Egeli (Nordsjælland, £17.5m)
Kasey McAteer (£11.5m)
Wes Burns (Fleetwood, nominal)
Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn, £9m)
Chuba Akpom (Ajax, loan)
Jaden Philogene (£20m, Aston Villa)
Jack Clarke (£15m, Sunderland)
George Hirst (Leicester, £1.5m)
Ivan Azon (Como, loan)
TOTAL: £126m (not including loan fees)
BIGGEST BUYS/SALES OF LAST SEVEN WINDOWS
* Doesn’t include loans, which will have also carried fees
SUMMER 2022 (L1)
IN: Leif Davis (£1.2m), Marcus Harness (£750k), Panutche Camara (£500k), Gassan Ahadme (£300k).
OUT: Tyreece Simpson (£500k)
NET: -£2.25m
JANUARY 2023 (L1)
IN: Nathan Broadhead (£1.5m, Everton), Harry Clarke (Arsenal, £1m)
OUT: N/A
NET: -£2.5m
SUMMER 2023 (Champ)
IN: George Hirst (£1.5m), Jack Taylor (£1.5m)
OUT: N/A
NET: -£3m
JANUARY 2024 (Champ)
IN: Ali Al-Hamadi (£1m)
OUT: N/A
NET: -£1m
SUMMER 2024 (Prem Lg)
IN: Omari Hutchinson (£20m), Liam Delap (£15m), Jacob Greaves (£15m), Jack Clarke (£15m), Dara O’Shea (£12m), Sammie Szmodics (£9m), Aro Muric (£8m), Chiedozie Ogbene (£8m), Conor Townsend (£500k)
OUT: Gassan Ahadme (£1m), Idris El Mizouni (£400k)
NET: -£101.1m
JANUARY 2025 (Prem Lg)
IN: Jaden Philogene (£20m), Alex Palmer (£2m)
OUT: George Edmundson (£600k)
NET: -£21.4m
SUMMER 2025 (Champ)
IN: Sindre Walle Egeli (£17.5m), Kasey McAteer (£11.5m), Azor Matusiwa (£7.8m), Marcelino Nunez (£7.5m), Darnell Furlong (£3.5m)
OUT: Omari Hutchinson (£37.5m), Liam Delap (£30m), Nathan Broadhead (£7.5m), Luke Woolfenden (£4m)
NET: +£31.2m
TOTAL NET: £100m
