By Frank Dalleres
In-demand Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has been offered a four-fold pay rise in order to ward off interest from Chelsea, Manchester United and Brighton.
McKenna was named Manager of the Year by bosses’ union the LMA ahead of record-breaking Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola on Tuesday, after guiding Ipswich back into the Premier League with consecutive promotions.
The 38-year-old’s success has marked him out as a candidate for vacancies at Chelsea and Brighton while former employer United have also kept tabs on the Northern Irishman.
Ipswich have bid to retain McKenna by offering to hike his £1.2m salary to £5m a year, according to The Sun, although he appeared to leave his options open when speaking this week.
“I know what we have achieved is not an ordinary thing, so of course there is going to be speculation. But that’s not where my focus is,” he said.
“It’s been a wonderful couple of years so [the LMA award] is about celebrating that. I know that everyone is looking forward to next season and the club is going to be in a really good place going into that season.”
Chelsea have emerged as leading contenders for McKenna since parting with Mauricio Pochettino after just one year in charge this week.
Former Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi, Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Ruben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon are also in the frame.
Brighton have been keen on McKenna since deciding to split with De Zerbi this month. He was an assistant first-team coach at United under managers Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
