BREAK:Coventry City provides Ipswich Town with the best Sam Morsy upgrade: See

Kieran McKenna and Ipswich Town are headed for the Premier League, but it means they will need to bolster their team.

They’ll want to as some players might not be able to manage the demands of the top division, and Premier League life might be difficult if necessary changes aren’t done.

One such player who may raise concerns is Sam Morsy, a 32-year-old midfielder who, while playing a critical role in the team’s promotion from the Championship, may be replaced by a younger, Premier League-ready replacement.

Ben Sheaf, who has performed well for Coventry City this season and could readily transition to the Premier League if Ipswich does make a move, may be that player.

Ben Sheaf’s ready for the Premier League

Sheaf has been one of the most impressive players in the Championship this season, not just for Coventry.

In addition to leading the Sky Blues to the FA Cup semifinals, the 26-year-old has been the team’s mainstay as they have made another push for the play-offs.

In all of his outings this season across all competitions, he has at last demonstrated why so many supporters, analysts, and media members have dubbed the Englishman “Premier League ready” and why he graduated from Arsenal FC’s academy.

The midfielder is also adaptable, having covered both the attacking and defensive ends of the midfield, which is ideal in the modern game as teams want to switch between attacking and defending the ball swiftly.

Ipswich must improve sooner rather than later.

Upgrades are desired to give a side the best chance of fending off an immediate relegation, as is normal for any promoted team (much alone one that has gone from League One to the Premier League in two seasons), and that will undoubtedly be the case for McKenna and Suffolk.

McKenna may focus on upgrades or replacements at the defensive midfield position.

The Northern Irishman uses Morsy alongside Massimo Luongo in his 4-2-3-1 formation, and although the Egyptian has played in a competitive club that has been promoted to the Premier League, it might be argued that he needs an upgrade.

It must be acknowledged that Luongo and Morsy are older than thirty. The latter is getting close to 33 years old, so a younger midfielder who can be used for many years ahead of him as well as someone with the skills and discipline to play in the Premier League the following season will be desired.

Sheaf would assist with that, as would any other midfield targets that surface during this transfer window. It appears that McKenna has realized this, as Alan Nixon disclosed on his Patreon that he is keen to sign the Coventry star to improve his team and possibly reduce the team’s age as well. Sheaf is now 26 years old, and if the goal is to go past depending on the seasoned pair of Luongo and Morsy—who are not here to stay—this is the ideal moment to launch a Premier League campaign once more.

Does Kieran McKenna need to alter anything?

Even while there is a case to be made for Morsy and his midfield partner Luongo that they can still be the cornerstones of the Suffolk team’s midfield even in a different tier, it makes complete sense that McKenna would want to rotate his midfield.

After a tremendously successful season in which Luongo made 43 appearances and Morsy made 42, the two have a total of 85 appearances; it would be foolish to fully rule out the possibility of the two improving after what they recently accomplished. Both of these appearance totals are higher than that of Sheaf, who, as the above chart shows, only had 31 appearances in the Championship and sustained a few injuries. He has, however, continued to play a significant role in several games this year and is dependable.

The Ipswich pair’s paper statistics also seem comparable to Sheaf’s. Luongo has three assists this season but has not scored. In the meantime, Morsy has scored the same amount of goals and out-assisted Sheaf, which may indicate that the squad is already looking for players with a similar level of skill.

However, if we dig a little deeper and use Sofascore’s comparison tool, it becomes evident that even if Morsy might have given a stronger performance in some instances, his advancing years may be starting to show in other areas of the field where he contributes.

Sheaf fared better than Morsy in terms of tackles and interceptions per game. He also strikes me as a more reliable player defensively, which will be important for McKenna and Ipswich in the challenging Premier League.

Not unexpectedly, he also committed less fouls and received fewer yellow cards than Morsy during this championship season, demonstrating that even at his much younger age, he is a skilled player who maintains composure under pressure. This is going to be important for McKenna once more and demonstrates why it might not be a good idea to depend too much on a midfield player who is past thirty, especially in the Premier League, which is a really competitive league.

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