Ipswich Town ace Leif Davis is backing former Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe to be a ‘good addition’ to the Championship challengers after his summer exit from the Premier League giants.
Reuniting with his former Old Trafford coach at Portman Road, you’d be a brave man to bet against both Axel Tuanzebe and Kieran McKenna going up against their former employers in England’s top flight next term.
While Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United continue to stumble blindly in the dark, a dreadful start to the current campaign undoing all the progress made throughout 2022/23, the contrast between the Red Devils and McKenna’s imperious Ipswich could hardly be any more stark.
Successive promotions suddenly feels less like an optimistic pipe dream, and more like a genuine possibility.
Axel Tuanzebe reunites with Kieran McKenna at Ipswich
No newly-promoted team in Championship history has made a better start than the Tractor Boys, chugging along nicely in Leicester City’s slipstream. The sudden availability of summer signing Tuanzebe, meanwhile, should add extra layer of solidity to an already impressive backline, the 25-year-old recovering from injury to be included in McKenna’s squad for the first time during Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Plymouth Argyle.
“You can tell he’s played at a high level,” Davis, who has the joint-most assists in the division, tells BBC Sport of Tuanzebe. “He’s been helping us lads at the back when we do (defensive) unit stuff (in training).
“And obviously, from being with the gaffer at Manchester United as well, you can see he’s going to be a good addition to the team.
“You can see how good he is on the ball. And, off the ball, he’s very quick and physical for a centre-half. I think he’ll fit in really well.”
Former Man United man fit again
Tuanzebe, winner of the prestigious Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award back in 2015, was released by Manchester United over the summer after injury-ruined loan spells at Napoli and Stoke City.
He was initially supposed to join Teden Mengi at Luton Town before dropping down to the Championship.
The 25-year-old is still awaiting his Ipswich debut, but he is getting closer, and clearly making a good impression behind the scenes.
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