Ipswich told ‘astounding’ Birmingham City ace may be perfect Sam Morsy replacement

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How differently would Ipswich Town have performed, during Friday’s opening day draw with Championship newcomers Birmingham City, if Jens Cajuste had arrived in time to start for Kieran McKenna’s men?

It was reported by Fabrizio Romano all the way back on August 2nd that Ipswich had agreed a deal with Napoli regarding Cajuste’s return to Portman Road.

However, it would take another five days before the Sweden international officially swapped the baby blue of the Serie A champions for a darker hue.

As such, he was nowhere to be seen as George Hirst rescued a point at St Andrews with a 95th minute equaliser from the penalty spot. McKenna would confirm, following a hard-fought and probably undeserved draw, that the trip to Birmingham had simply ‘come too soon’ for Cajuste.

Yet, even when he is ready to make his return to the Ipswich Town XI, Football League expert Ali Maxwell has reservations about a Jens Cajuste – Azor Matusiwa midfield partnership.

Maxwell cannot shake the feeling that, having lost their influential captain and deep-lying playmaker Sam Morsy, the Tractor Boys are crying out for a footballer in the mould of Birmingham City’s own Paik Seung-Ho.

Ali Maxwell thinks Ipswich Town need their own Paik Seung-Ho after Birmingham City draw

South Korea sensation Paik was a huge reason why Birmingham stormed to the League One title last season.

And, if the 28-year-old’s opening day midfield masterclass is anything to go by, the free transfer signing from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors should make the transition to Championship football like a proverbial duck to water.

“Do you know who I feel is absolutely astounding? Paik Seung-Ho for Birmingham,” Maxwell smiles. “It’s not like I didn’t see him play last season [but] I guess it’s because we saw him playing in the Championship against a team who should be challenging for the title.

“The appreciation of that performance and just his all-round game was just… Wow. Incredible really.

“You know what, Ipswich could really do with someone like that next to Matusiwa. I know they’ve got Cajuste to come in, I’m a little uneasy about him and Matusiwa as a pairing but I admit I haven’t seen loads of either of them.

“So, I could be wrong there.

“But I just want a slightly more dependable, on-the-ball operator to play for Ipswich because I think that was part of the reason why they didn’t look very cohesive, they didn’t have that sort of glue in midfield that they had with Morsy and [Massimo] Luongo two years ago.”

A beautifully balanced and smooth-moving footballer, Paik remains one of the first names on Chris Davies’ pecking order despite another summer of heavy spending at St Andrews.

The Birmingham Mail gave the former Girona and Darmstadt man a 9/10 for his efforts on Friday night. The highest rating received by any Blues player, ahead of goalscorer Jay Stansfield and the highly-impressive Kyogo Furuhashi.

Kieran McKenna needs reinforcements despite Chuba Akpom and Ashley Young signings

Kieran McKenna accepts Ipswich have ‘work to do’ both on the training pitch and in the transfer market if they are to live up to their billing as pre-season title favourites.

Ipswich beat Birmingham to the signing of Chuba Akpom though, while new skipper Dara O’Shea hailed the arrivals of Ashley Young and Cedric Kipre. Yet, this is still a squad short in a few key areas. And that is without the potential departures of Leif Davis and Omari Hutchinson.

Goalkeeper Aro Muric is reportedly a target for Serie A side Sassuolo.

“It is a massive lucky escape for Ipswich Town,” Not the Top 20 co-host George Elek said after Hirst’s 95th minute spot-kick broke Birmingham hearts. “A huge wake-up call, which just laid bare how kind of desperate they are for players to come in.

“Cajuste came in obviously just before the game, wasn’t ready to take part. Chuba Akpom is also in the door, and I expect others will come in soon after.

“I think Ipswich will look very different in time, and I am sure Kieran McKenna will have learned a lot.”