'We hope...': Ipswich boss addresses Conor Chaplin's Portman Road future after surprise Portsmouth loan switch

Kieran McKenna insists Conor Chaplin’s Ipswich career is not over.

And he ‘hopes’ the 28-year-old will be back at Portman Road at the end of a Pompey loan designed to give him regular first-team football.

According to the Tractor Boys’ boss, it was Chaplin who drove the shock move to Fratton Park in the final days of the transfer window.

With the striker desiring more match minutes and the cherished opportunity to return to the club he loves, McKenna subsequently granted him the green light.

Yet there remains a January recall option for Chaplin and, while he is out of contract at Ipswich next summer, it has been widely reported the club also hold a 12-month option.

And McKenna believes he hasn’t ‘seen the last of him’ as an Ipswich player.

‘He is someone I hold in the highest regard’

Speaking to Ipswich’s digital streaming channel TownTV, McKenna said: ‘Conor is one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of coaching and meeting. He’s been an amazing player, still is a fantastic player, and someone I hold in the highest, highest regard.

‘Me and Conor have spoken all summer because he’s someone you really can have an honest man-to-man conversation with. The mutual respect there is top.

‘We’ve had different conversations about his future and what the best thing for him would be as adverse to what we need for him this year. Look, he had this opportunity that he brought to us over the weekend, to go back to his hometown club on a loan, with a break clause, to get regular minutes.

‘He’s a player who didn’t make a lot of starts last year (11). He had an injury and missed a few months at the back end of the season. For players at that stage of their career, if you don’t make many starts for a couple of seasons then it’s not always a great thing.

‘We spoke about those things a lot. He had an opportunity for his personal life, his career, to go and play regularly at a club he has an affinity for, and rack up those regular starts and, hopefully, goals again.

‘That was a difficult one because you know you’re losing an unbelievable person from the dressing room who would have helped us this year. But I think it’s right that his desire to do what’s best for his career is understood and listened to.

‘He hopes – we hope – that the door is very much still open here and that we haven’t seen the last of him.’

55 goals in 174 Ipswich appearances

Chaplin has made four appearances for Ipswich this season, including starting their last match against Derby, which finished 2-2.

He has won two promotions and scored 55 goals in 174 appearances since Paul Cook recruited him for the Tractor Boys in July 2021.

Yet his first-team chances have been impacted this season following the arrival of Chuba Akpom from Ajax to join Sammy Szmodics as starting rivals.

Now Chaplin is lined up for his Pompey debut in next weekend’s eagerly-awaited south-coast derby.

Ipswich boss: We’ll see what the future brings

McKenna added: ‘We know it’s a loss for the club, for the dressing room, but it’s what Conor felt was right for him at this moment and if anyone deserves to have that respect to be supported and listened to it’s him.

‘He’s got Southampton next weekend in his first game. Hopefully he bags the winner against them! We’ll keep in contact and will be watching his games.

‘I’m glad he can’t play and score against us. Hopefully he can do that to some other teams and we’ll see what the future brings.’

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