Potential Ipswich Town signing looks exciting but Marcus Harness may not be best pleased: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Ipswich Town may see the January transfer window as an opportunity to further strengthen their promotion bid.

The Tractor Boys have taken to life back in the second tier very well, so much so that they are joint-top of the league after closing the gap to Leicester City in recent weeks.

Kieran McKenna has maximised the squad at his disposal so far this season, and given how they are performing, it is unlikely they are going to go mad in the January transfer window, especially as they were pretty calm in the summer, adding just a few players to their squad.

But obviously, as January gets closer, talk starts turning to who could possibly be arriving at Portman Road, and in the last few days, it has emerged that Peterborough United’s Kwame Poku is a target.

It was reported by TEAMtalk over the weekend, that Ipswich were among a number of Championship teams interested in signing Poku from Peterborough.

As well as the Tractor Boys, Sunderland, Millwall, West Brom, Stoke City, and Bristol City were all mentioned. However, since then it has been reported that Bristol City are not interested in the winger at this stage.

The 22-year-old has been excellent for Peterborough this season, scoring six goals and registering six assists in 16 league appearances.

In fact, Poku has been rather impressive for Posh since he joined the club and has established himself as one of the best, if not the best, attacker in League One this season.

So, were Ipswich to go through with this deal, they would be getting a very exciting player and one that many would expect to shine in this team under McKenna.

However, not everyone at the club will be pleased to see Poku arrive, especially winger Marcus Harness, who is fighting for a place in the team as it is.

How would Kwame Poku’s arrival at Ipswich Town affect Marcus Harness?

Harness joined the Tractor Boys last summer from Portsmouth after impressing with the South Coast side.

The 27-year-old had been in excellent form with Pompey, and that continued last season, as he had a goal contribution of nine in 40 league games, helping Ipswich to promotion.

While the winger is still a large part of Ipswich’s team, this season has seen Harness be used more as an impact player, starting just two of the 14 Championship games he has appeared in.

However, that hasn’t stopped the player from having an impact on the club’s season, as he’s got four goals and one assist to his name in the league. But overall, Harness’ numbers show he is performing at a good level.

So far this season, he has an expected goal ratio of 1.8, while his expected assist rate is 0.4. Furthermore, Harness is averaging a goal every 0.95 per 90 minutes, and that comes in just 379 minutes of football, as per Fbref.com.

The 27-year-old is always looking to take his chances when given minutes by McKenna, and so far, he has a shot total of 12, with five of them being on target and, as mentioned, four equalling a goal. 41.7% of Harness’ shots this season have been placed on goal, as the winger is having a big impact on the club’s results from the bench, as per Fbref.com.

So, while Harness has been limited to mainly substitute appearances this season, he is still having an impact on the team and trying to impress McKenna. But were Ipswich to add Poku to their ranks, you would have to expect that it would become harder for Harness to get more minutes, as he would be another player ahead of him in the pack.

Harness is struggling to break into the starting XI in the current squad, so if McKenna were to add to that, then you would have to assume that the 27-year-old may have to look at his options, especially if he wants to play regular football.