O'Shea Signs New Deal
Tuesday, 24th Jun 2025 16:00

Town centre-half Dara O’Shea has committed his future to the Blues, signing a new contract which runs to the summer of 2030.

The 26-year-old, who had been targeted by Premier League clubs this summer with former side Burnley, Leeds and Wolves all linked, was one of Town’s top performers during 2024/25, picking up a Player of the Year award at the End-of-Season Dinner and finishing third for the supporters’ gong.

The Republic of Ireland international, who captained the Blues when Sam Morsy wasn’t in the XI, joined the club in August last year from the Clarets following their relegation for an initial £12 million plus potentially a further £3 million in add-ons.

“I’m really happy and very proud to have signed a new contract at Ipswich Town,” said O’Shea, whose previous deal ran to the end of June 2029.

“We learned a lot last season and that will be really important for us going forward. I’m glad to have signed this new contract and I am ready to get to work again in pre-season.

“There are good characters and good human beings at this club and I want to help deliver success again and help the club get back into the Premier League. This is a massive club but it can continue to grow and I’m excited.”

Manager Kieran McKenna added: “We’re delighted Dara has further committed his future to the club.

“He has been an important figure for us since his arrival last summer, putting in consistently good performances on the pitch while also bringing character and leadership to the group off it.

“He has real experience, despite still being relatively young for a central defender, and we believe he has the ability to further improve in the years to come.

“We’re excited to now be working with him for an extended period as we continue to prepare for the season ahead.”

The Dubliner committing his future to the club is a big boost for the Blues’ central defensive department following the exit of free agent Cameron Burgess, who joined Swansea City earlier in the month.

Photo: ITFC

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Monkey_Blue added 17:38 - Jun 24 Good news but more than that, reading between the lines it seems McK isn’t thinking of being anywhere else. Plenty of “we” and “we’re” in his comments regarding the future of Dara.
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runningout added 18:05 - Jun 24 Great defender, but steady on with Best one in the League stuff…. Too much flattery can kick you in the nuts
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GavITFC added 18:10 - Jun 24 Wow this is massive!! Well done town!!
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flykickingbybgunn added 18:14 - Jun 24 Yea. Excellent. Really pleased.
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Rimsy added 18:33 - Jun 24 Great news. He was the one I was fearing losing most. We have no one of comparable quality to step in to his boots. Proper defender and obvious Captain material.
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armchaircritic59 added 19:08 - Jun 24

Excellent news, and indeed as KM rightly says, 26 is still on the young side for a central defender, just ask the likes of Virgil Van Dyke and Pepe who was still playing for Portugal at 40! What you may loose in your legs, you make up for in your head. Assuming you have the requisite ability there to start with of course. Like a poster above, I also hope LW gets a lot more game time next season, should have had a good bit more in the season just gone, in my opinion.

As for AT, I'm not such as big a fan as some obviously are on here, though of course, they might be right, it's just opinions after all! I saw him play a few times when he was at Man U and was generally quite impressed, didn't seem to quite carry that through here last season, though he wasn't the only one. Injuries can take their toll, he needs to have a long run without them, and that's a big worry. I don't even see the point of him going somewhere like Trabzonspor. If you look at the current Opta stats for the top 30 club leagues in the world, the English Championship is joint sixth, whilst the Turkish Premier League is twentieth. It would be much worse if you took Galatasary and Fenerbahce out of it, as they are light years ahead of anyone else, just look at the final table for last season for confirmation! Trabzonspor's average home attendance is a bit over 17,000. I doubt the salary would be much greater, if at all. Of course he may just want a new challenge at this stage of his life and career.

I also hope there's going to be some transfer action very soon. I understand with tournaments still being played here, there and everywhere, some players have other things on their minds for the present, but probably not too many that would be on our radar. I think I'm correct in saying we start our pre season Austrian trip in about 4 weeks time, or close to that. We should have all our business done by then, time to bed in new players and other staff, not be panicking at the last moment. It appears Gamechanger have their Data Programme up and running. I look forward to seeing the results. I hope it doesn't come down to a case of fiddling while Rome is burning. There's no excuse for it.

TimmyH added 19:29 - Jun 24 Yes this is positive...he did improve somewhat as the season went on so I expect at Championship level he should be far more of a rock.
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BangaloreBlues added 20:20 - Jun 24 I think this is best news I've read on TWTD this year!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 06:12 - Jun 25 Excellent news. After the shake-down of the building process for the new season, during which I'm sure we'll win some and lose some, I'm optimistic we'll have a very competitive squad for the Championship season ahead. O'Shea is definitely a win!
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