Town boss Kieran McKenna’s new contract is still with the lawyers and confirmation of the new deal is now expected to be confirmed on Thursday.
It’s understood there’s no panic with the long-term, more lucrative deal agreed, but with legal teams continuing to work through the fine detail.
The Blues boss was at Portman Road yesterday with a photo of him playing football on the pitch with his son having circulated on social media but is now believed to have gone abroad.
The Town manager’s future has been the subject of feverish speculation for most of the last fortnight with Brighton initially looking his likely destination before Chelsea and Manchester United also held talks with his representatives.
As reported last Wednesday, despite speaking to McKenna’s people, Leicester’s Enzo Maresca was always Chelsea’s top target and the Italian is now understood to be close to being appointed at Stamford Bridge.
The Red Devils, who beat Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, are set to hold an end-of-season review which mean their management situation – with Erik ten Hag currently still in charge – not likely to be settled for a little while yet.
Early last week, prior to Chelsea making their interest known, Brighton are understood to have thought the Blues boss was ready to join them.
As no progress was made in the following days and as the situation developed, we understand the Seagulls set a deadline of this Wednesday for the Northern Irishman to commit to a move to Sussex.
But, as was the case with Crystal Palace when they showed interest in February, a switch which it has now emerged came closer than appeared at the time, McKenna ultimately preferred to remain at Portman Road.
While the speculation regarding the other clubs continued apace, the Blues pulled out all the stops to try to keep hold of their manager with TWTD revealing on Friday that Ed Schwartz, the CEO of ORG, the US investment firm which manages funds on behalf of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), the club’s majority owner, flying over from the States to hold talks with CEO Mark Ashton and McKenna.
Those talks were evidently a success and once the new contract is confirmed, Town fans will be assured that they will have their talismanic boss still in charge when they make their return to the Premier League after 22 years away in August.
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