Man Utd already looking towards Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna’s Old Trafford return

Kieran McKenna was a coach at Manchester United before leaving to take the Ipswich Town job and has now secured back-to-back promotions to the Premier League

Manchester United have congratulated former coach Kieran McKenna following his successful guidance of Ipswich Town to the Premier League – and can’t wait for his return to Old Trafford.

McKenna began his coaching career at United’s academy after moving from a similar position at Tottenham in 2016. He was promoted to the first-team staff by Jose Mourinho and later served as a senior adviser to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Despite being initially retained by Solskjaer’s successor Ralf Rangnick, McKenna soon took up the reins as Ipswich boss. In his first full season in charge, he successfully led them to promotion from League One.

Demonstrating his managerial prowess, he has now steered the Tractor Boys to another promotion. Their victory over Huddersfield on Saturday confirmed their place in the top-flight next season, having secured second place in the Championship behind Leicester City and ahead of Leeds United.

In their debut season back in the second tier, McKenna’s squad amassed an impressive 96 points, outperforming favourites Leeds and Southampton. United were swift to acknowledge their former coach’s accomplishment, publishing an extensive news article on their website in tribute to his achievement, reports the Mirror.

“Masterminding back-to-back promotions with Ipswich as a manager represents a remarkable achievement for McKenna, whose squad this season includes ex-Reds defender Axel Tuanzebe and United loanee Brandon Williams, while our former coach Martyn Pert and goalkeeper Lee Grant are among the Northern Irishman’s backroom staff,” the story on United’s official website read.

“With survival the main aim this season, Ipswich’s exploits have been truly astonishing. They have seen McKenna pick up the Championship Manager of the Season award, as well as two monthly accolades during the campaign.

“The Reds have faced Ipswich on 57 previous occasions, winning 29 and drawing nine, with the most recent being a 3-0 League Cup triumph in 2015. United fans will have an eager eye on the fixture list for the 2024/25 campaign to see when we will be reunited with McKenna and Ipswich.”

United demonstrated their excitement at McKenna’s return to Old Trafford next season, continuing: “We won’t have long to wait, with the schedule due to be released at 09:00 BST on Tuesday 18 June. Congratulations to Kieran and Ipswich Town on their well-deserved promotion, we look forward to seeing you next season!”

McKenna was left overwhelmed by Ipswich’s achievement, praising his players for reaching the top-flight. He admitted he was left feeling incredibly proud and revealed he will be celebrating for several days.

“It means a lot, mostly seeing how much it means to everyone – the players, the supporters. To be one of the leaders in that is absolutely massive so it’s a wonderful day, a very, very proud one for everyone involved,” he said.

“We’ve done it through an incredible amount of effort and sacrifice, support from a lot of people and it’s a wonderful achievement. I’m sure it will sink in in a couple of days. It’s going to be a great challenge, of course a lot of work to do in the football club. For me on a personal level, it’s going to be a great challenge and one I’m looking forward to.” It will be interesting to see if McKenna does one day return to Old Trafford in a working capacity.