Celtic Must Move for Kieran McKenna After £5m Barrier Disappears
Kieran McKenna previously carried a reported £5 million compensation cost, but Celtic can now approach one of Britain’s most highly rated young managers for nothing.
Phillip Cooney 
Celtic must make Kieran McKenna their priority if Martin O’Neill decides that the time has come to step away.
This is not another fashionable name with little substance behind him. McKenna is one of the most highly regarded young coaches in British football, and his achievements at Ipswich Town deserve serious attention.
The remarkable part is that Celtic can now approach him without paying compensation.
When McKenna was linked with the Celtic position in October 2025, reports suggested extracting him from Ipswich could cost approximately £5 million. He left Portman Road in June and is presently unattached.
Dermot Desmond would therefore be negotiating directly with McKenna rather than another club. For a Celtic board that frequently stresses financial prudence, this is precisely the kind of opportunity it should recognise.
Celtic and Kieran McKenna already have a connection
McKenna was reportedly high on Celtic’s wanted list after Brendan Rodgers resigned last year. When questioned about the speculation, he did not dismiss Celtic or distance himself from the club.
“It’s a really big club,” McKenna said, while adding: “We all have our affinities.”
That was not a declaration that he wanted the position. However, it demonstrated respect for Celtic’s history, stature and significance.
McKenna was born in London but raised in County Fermanagh. A hip injury ended his playing career at only 22, forcing him to take a different route into football.
He studied sports science before coaching within Tottenham Hotspur’s academy. He subsequently joined Manchester United, winning the Under-18 Premier League Northern Division before working with José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick.
Former Tottenham coach Clive Allen once described him as intelligent and articulate, predicting: “Don’t be surprised if Kieran rises to the top.”
That prediction has proved remarkably accurate.
Why Kieran McKenna fits Celtic
McKenna inherited an Ipswich side sitting in League One in December 2021. Across his first two complete seasons, Ipswich collected 194 league points and scored 193 goals.
His first promotion team amassed 98 points and scored 101 times. Ipswich then produced 96 points and 92 goals in the Championship, defeating clubs with far larger budgets to secure consecutive promotions.
After relegation from the Premier League, McKenna rebuilt the squad and immediately returned Ipswich to the top flight. That gave him three promotions in four seasons.
His complete Ipswich record was 222 matches, 106 victories, 60 draws and 56 defeats. That represents a win rate of approximately 48 per cent across several competitive levels.
The football would also suit Celtic. McKenna generally favours a 4-2-3-1 formation with a double midfield pivot. His teams build patiently from defence, create overloads in wide areas and press aggressively after losing possession.
During Ipswich’s 2022/23 promotion season, they recorded the most possession and completed the most passes in League One. His final Championship side averaged 56 per cent possession, created 2.7 big chances per match and registered 16 clean sheets before its last fixture.
Those principles translate naturally to a Celtic team expected to dominate possession and break down organised domestic opponents.
Key takeaways:
- Three promotions in four seasons.
- Available without compensation.
- Proven record of developing players.
- Modern, possession-based attacking football.
- Previous experience at Manchester United.
- Reported Celtic interest already exists.
There will be competition. McKenna has previously attracted interest from Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton. Waiting could allow another English club to move first.
Celtic require more than another temporary solution. They need a young, ambitious manager capable of rebuilding the team and restoring a recognisable footballing identity.
McKenna is available. The £5 million obstacle has disappeared. Dermot Desmond should go and get him.
Man U will have him signed by tomorrow.
Just one question…….
Why would he even consider coming to a club where he would have both hands tied behind his back in terms of his ambitions and ideas being thwarted by the most backward board of dinosaurs, sorry directors,in world football ?
Where the football operation is consistently made to take second place to the balance sheet of the PLC !
I’m pretty sure that he will have done his due diligence on our basket case of a club,and that’s not even with him consulting with any previous manager in the last quarter of a century.
Without trying to add to the depression that any forward thinking supporters are feeling l’m afraid our destiny for the foreseeable future is the likes of Maloney ,Lennon,Keane(Robbie or Roy).
Those are the headline acts that the Paddy golfer with one club to many,ie Celtic FC,has in his wee black contact book.
Our club is a poisoned chalice because of the way we are run and it’s no big secret on the soccer grapevine.
Martin O’Neil will go with my blessing and without his legacy in any way tainted for what he has given to us on three separate occasions.l 8f he decides to leave now with us still top of the league.
In all honesty,in hindsight,he should have signed off after the cup final instead of being a human shield for the likes of the vermin who infest our boardroom.
There would be too many restrictions on him at celtic , he would need his own players which we know he wouldnt get and any good ones would be sold
Anyone that takes it with that thieving mob in charge needs their fu**in heads examined !
We need a total clear out at board level before this club can move forward we will never move forward while these dinosaurs roam the land
There is an £8m buyout in his previous Ipswich contract – it was built in after he resigned. It does not expire until July 2027 – unless something has changed?
That is my hunch buddy, the fact his name was nowhere for ANY job during the summer tells me he was given golden handcuffs from Ipswich.
If it is indeed 12 months I thought MON would see us through to next summer and KM would just slide in.
Unfortunately trying to find a firefighter willing to hold the fort for 8 months at Celtic would be impossible IMO.
Incorrect. Kieran has an £8 millions release clause until next June, one of the conditions of his exit from Ipswich
He has a clause of £8m, regardless of him not being with Ipswich , perhaps research properly before obscene headlines