Blues boss Kieran McKenna paid tribute to retiring forward Sone Aluko at Monday night’s End-of-Season Dinner.
Aluko, 35, recently informed the club that he would be hanging up his boots this summer after three years at Town.
The former Nigeria international made 33 starts and 29 sub appearances during his three seasons with the Blues, scoring four goals, but made only two starts and five appearances from the bench during 2023/24.
Called onto the stage at Venue 16 where the dinner was taking place by CEO Mark Ashton, who had paid his own tribute, McKenna said: "This is something I’m really keen to get on the stage for, a special moment for me.
"I have to say, coaching Sone and getting to know him over the last couple of years has been one of the honours of my career.
"If I start as a football player, a fantastic football player. I think everyone’s who’s seen him grace Portman Road over the last couple of years would attest to that.
"The technical ability, his football brain, I would loved to have coached him a few years earlier, I have to say.
"An absolutely fantastic football player and some of his performances and moments on the pitch over the last two years, Burnley in the FA Cup away sticks out in my head, I know that’s only a glimpse of what he’s capable of.
"An absolutely wonderful football player. The record small-sided game winner, there’s been a few people over the last couple of years, Sam Morsy’s had a go at it, Axel Tuanzebe’s had a go at it, but by far and away the best win record of anyone in training over the last two years, no doubt about it.
"But more importantly than that for me is as a person. For me, one of the best people I’ve met in football, one of the best footballers as a human being I’ve ever met.
"I think it’s well-known that the success we’ve had has been so dependent on a group of people, not just the XI who play every week but a group of people and a group of players behind that and I have to say Sone’s been at the absolute forefront of that.
"His emotional intelligence, his empathy, his selflessness for a fantastic football player is absolutely off the scale and I have to say the way that he’s helped me and the staff and Samy and the other leaders to manage the group, the way he’s supported his teammates, the way he’s put the group before himself on so many occasions has been absolutely massive for us.
"I absolutely guarantee that we wouldn’t have this evening, we wouldn’t have this celebration, we wouldn’t have the bus parade without Sone, and a few others like him who I think the players in the room will know who I’m talking about who have continually pushed the group, supported the group and put others before themselves. A really proud moment to stand here with you.”
Aluko has spent much of the season watching games with the analysts and McKenna wants to keep him at Portman Road as the Blues go into the Premier League.
"We’re so proud of him, we hope that Sone’s going to stay with us in one capacity or another, we need to negotiate that, his agent’s going to speak to Mark about that,” the Blues boss continued.
"We’re really keen to keep good people and Sone’s a fantastic person and we hope that he’ll be involved in some way. I’m sure it won’t be the last that we’ll all see him after tonight.”
Aluko thanked McKenna for his tribute: "I’m try not to get emotional about football. They’re some words. From the bottom of my heart I really appreciate that.
"As a player, my whole career I’ve wanted to get into an environment where it’s high performance and you’re winning and you’re challenging yourself with the best and I couldn’t have hand-picked a better place to end my career.
"We spoke originally two years ago about it and I was thinking that if this was to be my last club, I was thinking that maybe for my last year I could go somewhere and play all the games and finish, just get some game sunder my belt and ride off, but I couldn’t have picked a better place.
"With the staff, not just Kieran McKenna, that’s all the staff, coaching staff, medical staff, performance staff, Mark as well. From top to bottom, the club’s amazing, it’s a privilege to be here. Today was an incredible day as well.”
The former Birmingham, Rangers, Aberdeen, Fulham, Hull City and Reading man says he knew early in the season that Town were destined for great things this season.
"The first two games we won, then we lost against Leeds,” he recalled. "That was the game when I told the boss, ‘We’re going to get in the Premier League, get ready! This team are going to go all the way’.
"We laughed about it and for the last five or six games, I’ve just been so relaxed, I knew that this team were going to get over the line.
"All the lads, I love all of you, even you Harry Clarke, I love you as well. I know I’ve pushed you, I know I’ve asked a lot of all the boys here.
"From me, thank you very much, you’ve made my last year the best year of my career without a shadow of a doubt. I’ve not played as much as I would have liked, but it’s still been the best year.”