Marti Cifuentes spells out Kasey McAteer ‘reality’ as Ipswich lodge bid for Leicester City ace

Add as preferred source on Google

Bilal El Khannouss is not the only Leicester City attacker who could be slipping out of Marti Cifuentes’ clutches. Not with Championship rivals Ipswich Town now hot on the heels of Kasey McAteer.

Crystal Palace are expected to sign El Khannouss for a fee of £32 million. The mercurial Moroccan is on his way to the FA Cup winners with the challenge of filling an Eberechi Eze-shaped void in Oliver Glasner’s team.

And as Sunderland lodge a £28 million bid for Abdul Fatawu, speculation surrounding the future of another Leicester City forward may be a distraction Marti Cifuentes could do without as he looks to bounce back from last week’s shock defeat at Preston North End.

Leicester, of course, will be under little pressure to cash in on McAteer if Fatawu follows El Khannouss out the door, banking the Foxes a cool £50 million in the process.

The Telegraph’s John Percy reported on Thursday, however, that Ipswich Town remain ‘hopeful’ of landing McAteer before the transfer window closes.

So with the futures of El Khannouss, Fatawu and now McAteer occupying plenty of column inches – let alone the Leeds-linked James Justin – Cifuentes’ Thursday press conference was once again dominated by talk of transfers.

Marti Cifuentes responds as Ipswich Town bid for Leicester City winger Kasey McAteer

Leicester travel to Charlton Athletic on Saturday, while Ipswich Town take on a Preston side who triumphed over the Foxes thanks to Militum Osmajic’s late winner last time out.

“That’s the reality, at this stage of the window especially,” Cifuentes told The Mercury in response to the uncertainty surrounding many Leicester first-teamers. “There are ten days left and I assume there’s going to be a lot of speculation.”

The man who replaced Ruud van Nistelrooy at the King Power Stadium did admit, though, that Leicester will not stand in the way of McAteer and co if all parties agree that a sale is the right move.

“If someone needs to leave because we feel that’s the best for the future of the club, we will move on, and we will then find a player to help us be better,” adds the former Queens Park Rangers coach.

“We’ll see if [any sales] happen but, again, it’s just speculation at the moment. At this stage of the window, there’s always a lot of activity. Yes, there might be [bids arriving].

“But the reality is that we as a club need to do what’s best for the future of the club.

“I said from day one, the target is to make sure that on September 1st we have the squad we want, the best squad possible, and that’s the way we’re working at the moment.”

Kieran McKenna coy on McAteer links after Omari Hutchinson sale

A Leicester academy graduate, 23-year-old McAteer scored six goals during the Foxes’ Championship-winning campaign in 2023/24. The Republic of Ireland international has been overshadowed by another, much younger, homegrown talent in the early weeks of the new season however.

Jeremy Monga became Leicester’s youngest-ever goalscorer when finding the net at Deepdale aged just 16.

It is not certain at this stage how much Leicester would be willing to sell McAteer for. A benchmark fee was set back in January, however, when Sunderland had an offer worth an initial £8 million rejected.

Ipswich’s pursuit comes just days after Omari Hutchinson left for Nottingham Forest, meanwhile.

McKenna was far less forthcoming than Cifuentes when quizzed on the prospect of imminent business though, preferring to focus on the Tractor Boys’ pursuit of a first Championship win at the third attempt after successive 1-1 draws against Birmingham City and Southampton.

“No, nothing to add on that [McAteer speculation],” McKenna said. “I’m pretty consistent on those matters and other teams’ players. It’s not where my focus is, to be honest.

“One, I don’t know. And, two, at this current point in time my full focus is just on Preston and preparing with the group we have available and making sure we are ready for Saturday.”