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McKenna: We Know the Owners Will Support Us If We Find a Suitable Player - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Kieran McKenna says money will be made available to strengthen the squad during the January transfer window but with the Blues limited by Financial Fair Play rules.

The Championship’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules dictate that clubs can lose up to £39 million over a rolling three-year period or an average of £13 million a season.

That limits the scope that clubs have in the transfer market, especially those, such as Town, without Premier League parachute payments.

"We've had initial meetings on that,” McKenna said when asked about what funds he might have made available to him during the window with another striker appearing even more of a priority with George Hirst out with a hamstring injury.

"We will have a budget available for January that really fits within our Financial Fair Play [restrictions] as a newly-promoted, non-parachute payment team.

"The current restrictions of Financial Fair Play mean that you can't go and spend huge figures on players without selling players first. That's the reality of the position that we're in. 

"So, the owners are very supportive. They look to support the group as much as possible. And if we find a suitable player who we think can improve us, ideally in the long term but also help us in this season, we know that they'll be there to support us.

"But we also know that the restrictions of Financial Fair Play are very prevalent. And that limits what teams in our position can do.”

McKenna, who has said the Blues won’t be looking to sell during this window, was asked whether recruitment might be easier in this window with Town second in the Championship compared with last year when they were in League One.

"There's some truth and it's always better when you're having a good season,” he said. "But to be honest, last January wasn't too hard either.

"The more tricky one was probably summer 2022 and the players that we brought in last January, the majority of them we tried to sign the summer before. I think the George Hirst one is maybe well known.

"So I think as you're building your style and building the team and developing that, it's harder to sell it before there's a big body of evidence out there. So it was easier last January to sell that the playing style would be really good.

"We'd be getting full stadiums and playing really good football at the top end of League One, scoring a lot of goals and being a team that would be exciting to play for. That was a much easier sell last January.

"And hopefully, the same this January as well. As a newly-promoted team, of course, we had confidence in how we'd go about things and we had full conviction in how we were going to approach the season. 

"But it's not always easy to… not convince, that's the wrong word, but externally it's hard for anyone to have that conviction. I think that's normal.

"But yes, we're in a position where I think the style of play is pretty clear now and the atmosphere in the stadium is pretty clear. The momentum around the club is pretty clear, and that certainly makes it easier than if you're at the wrong end of the table. So that helps.

"I know we had a fantastic last January, it was in a different division but it's still a really difficult window to find players who are ready to come in and help the team in the short term, who are fit and available. 

"And it's a difficult market, according to your position as a football club as well, and where that sits within the football structures.

"So we're going to try our very best to improve the squad and we've done that in every window so far and let's hope from the end of this window, we'll be in a stronger position than we are today as well.”

Fulham's on-loan striker Jay Stansfield, currently on loan at Birmingham City, is known to be a player the Blues have long coveted, while Sunderland are also now reported to be interested.

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