Town captain Sam Morsy has hailed Massimo Luongo as his favourite midfielder he has played with ahead of Luongo’s final game for the club this weekend.

Morsy and Luongo formed a formidable partnership in the centre of the Blues midfield from the Australian’s arrival in January 2023 until promotion to the Premier League in May 2024.

The duo were virtually ever-present for that 16-month period and achieved successive promotions from League One to the top flight.

With Luongo’s minutes limited this season, manager Kieran McKenna announced on Friday that he will be leaving the club this summer following Town’s final league game of the season against West Ham United on Sunday.

Morsy paid tribute to his midfield partner, insisting the Blues would not have achieved their success if it was not for Luongo’s free transfer two-and-a-half years ago.

“Incredibly important,” he said. “I remember when he signed mid-January, I don’t think we would have got promoted without him for the League One campaign. The Championship campaign as well, he was brilliant and instrumental in what we did.

“He’s a player who you don’t fully appreciate until you’ve played with him and how much he helps the team. A lot of his outstanding qualities and attributes are things you probably can’t see – controlling the rhythm, when to do things, when to move and he’s fantastic like that. He’s probably my favourite midfielder I’ve played with in my career.

“I always knew he was a really good player. At Middlesbrough he hadn’t played when he came in. Mass at times can be very relaxed so when he started training he wasn’t playing for a while, he’d have his pants on and long trousers in training and go through the motions a bit but we could see the quality.

“He came on against MK Dons away for Cam Humphreys and he completely changed the game and won the game. From then, his performances have been so consistent.

“I knew he’d do well but you couldn’t imagine what he’s done for a free transfer and to be such a vital part of getting back-to-back promotions is historic.”

Picking one memory from the pair’s time together proved a difficult task for Morsy, with the consecutive promotions being a choice deemed too obvious.

Instead, the former Egypt international opted to pick out two matches from Town’s Championship campaign last season.

“Two promotions but he’s had some fantastic games,” he considered. “Blackburn at home, Swansea away last year was a bit of a flat game and he really took the game by the scruff of the neck.

“He’s been brilliant, we wouldn’t have done it without him and I genuinely believe that, he’s been a massive part of it.

“We signed Tayls [Jack Taylor] for a bit of money in the Championship campaign and there was probably an expectation for Tayls to play, but Mass kept his levels so high and went on to play the majority of the games.”

Many supporters rank Morsy and Luongo’s partnership as one of the most important of recent years, but the Blues have found forming connections more difficult in the Premier League this season.

Morsy said: “That’s what we’ve built our success on with our structure and style of play. We’ve still got it but the connections and partnerships are so important.

“Mass probably helped me last season do my bit as well because he’s such a complementary player. You need players like that and you need really unselfish players and the unsung heroes in the teams, they’re really important and that’s what Mass is. Next season we’re going to need those relationships again to work.”

While the Australian international will be moving on, Morsy says he expects to remain at Portman Road to forge those relationships with whoever might come in over the summer: “As it stands, I’ve still got another year left on my contract.”

Luongo believes he still has something to give to the game, albeit away from Portman Road. That is something Morsy echoes, while also admitting he has missed playing alongside Luongo over the last year.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” he said. “We had a really good relationship, we understood how each other operate and he’s a really good team player.

“Again, I don’t think people understand how good he is until you’ve played with him and what he does for the team.

“You get some players who may be outstanding players but don’t help the team as much, and you get other players who, not only are they good players, but also help the team enormously and he’s one of them. Any good Championship team should be looking at him.”

Photo: Matchday Images

victorysquad added 06:47 - May 24 Massimo will get a great ovation on Sunday, and well deserved too, definitely a fans favourite. Great news too that it looks like Morsy is going to see out his contract here. Will be interesting to see what the recruitment team have planned for midfield, but we have to be looking at teams like Brighton and Wolves, with a view to having a midfield on a par with them in 12 months time.

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grinch added 07:47 - May 24 why are supporters glad morsy stays not good enough and puts team in trouble should move him on as he shows that midfieldcarea isvweak. Thanks for previous 2 seasons but this year has shown his limitations even as a captain with the armband fiasco that shows he doesnt understand he is leading a complete club including the womans team andvshould have no discriminations which that fiasco showed he has low point of any capt town has had over the years. Ready made capt in oshea so please mive morsy on

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AYACCA added 07:49 - May 24 Always liked those 2 in midfield together. Would have liked to see Mass given more game time this season
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trulyblue added 07:59 - May 24 Grinch, tell me you don't understand football without telling me that you don't understand football!
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JackNorthStand added 08:04 - May 24 Grinch… Your post is madness. Morsy is a complete holding midfielder, possibly lacks a yard of pace for the prem at times but in the championship is a top player.
4

Len_Brennan added 08:11 - May 24 Sam uses the words 'partnership' & 'complementary' above, when describing Massimo's impact on him, and that's 100% how I think of them. Obviously the demands at Premier League levels are exceptional, but their performances at L1 & the Championship, as a midfield duo, were better than any of us could have expected, because they worked so well together. It was one of those cases where the whole of their partnership vastly exceeded the sum of their individual parts, notwithstanding the fact that they are very decent players on an individual basis.

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cressi added 08:25 - May 24 Grinch your absolutely clueless Morsy has been pivotal for us and will be again next season he needs us to bring in the right player to play alongside him. What I would do for a 27 Yr old Morsy.
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Karlosfandangal added 08:47 - May 24 Wish Town would keep him next season for the Morsy Luongo midfield but totally understand why he is going, will be interesting to see who he is replaced with. Need a player who will be able to play in the Prem so they have a year to get use to the TOwn system
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poet added 08:51 - May 24 Sam Morsy has been a stalwart for us over the last 3 seasons. When others begin to wilt under pressure, Morsy digs-in and stands his ground. He rightly praises Mass, but you could say the same things about Morsy. It’s not just his playing ability that’s helped us get to the PL, it’s also his captaincy, he’s a very good leader. He’s now 33, he may have lost a bit of pace for PL football, but he’s got a lot to offer us in the Championship, not just on the pitch, but off it as well. Personally, I’m very pleased he looks like staying.

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Rimsy added 09:04 - May 24 What a player. Should have played the duo from start of PL. They know each others games inside out and it couldn't have been any worse than the constant chopping and changing.
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billlm added 09:54 - May 24 And that my friends is the only testament you need,
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PortmanTerrorist added 10:03 - May 24 Unheralded on arrival, remember fans moaning about bringing in a player who couldn't get in an average Championship team. Questions over age and fitness. But where would we be without Mass....been a superstar. My pet hate this season is media/fans giving Leif a hard time for his "defending". Truth is he has been utterly exposed since Mass dropped out of the team. Mass read the game, covered LB and whilst the likes of Jens have quality in the ball they have failed Leif and the team defensively. Look forward to giving Mass a Mass-ive send off tomorrow. We all owe him and he will always be welcome and be remembered as a pivotal player in our re-emergence as a Club!

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Town1Inter0 added 11:25 - May 24 Portman Terrorist. You're right ref Leif. But why didn't McKenna solve the problem? It was glaringly obvious from the second half of the first game vs Liverpool, yet we pursued with Davis roaming forward and leaving a gap behind him that was exploited time and again. Opposition managers must have been rubbing their hands in their pre-game team talks.
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