Kieran McKenna dropped rare Ipswich Town transfer blunder with Plymouth Argyle deal
Kieran McKenna’s first summer transfer window in charge at Ipswich Town saw him bring in players who would go on to play in the Premier League just two seasons later.
The likes of Leif Davis, Marcus Harness, Harry Clarke, Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst were all brought to Portman Road that summer, and all were key parts of the next two seasons, which saw McKenna deliver back-to-back promotions into the top flight.
However, his deadline day signings that summer proved to be some of the few mistakes he made whilst in the Portman Road dugout.
The club brought in Gassan Ahadme and Panutche Camara for undisclosed fees, and both went on to have hugely forgettable runs in Suffolk. Camara, especially, who played just four times under McKenna in a move which derailed his career somewhat.
Panutche Camara’s disappointing Ipswich Town spell
Panutche Camara arrived at Portman Road having made a solid CV for himself whilst in League Two and League One.
The Bissau-Guinean midfielder was brought into the EFL by then-League Two side Crawley Town in 2017, spending three years there before heading to Plymouth Argyle in 2020 as the Pilgrims began their first season back in League One following a brief one-year spell in the fourth tier.
| Panutche Camara’s EFL career before joining Ipswich Town in 2022, per Transfermarkt | |||||
| Season | Team | Division | Games played (starts) | Goals | Assists |
| 2017/18 | Crawley Town | League Two | 29 (14) | 2 | 1 |
| 2018/19 | Crawley Town | League Two | 45 (34) | 3 | 2 |
| 2019/20 | Crawley Town | League Two | 29 (23)* | 1 | 5 |
| 2020/21 | Plymouth Argyle | League One | 41 (35) | 2 | 2 |
| 2021/22 | Plymouth Argyle | League One | 40 (36) | 4 | 6 |
*League postponed after 37 games due to COVID-19
Camara was a key part of the Argyle side for the next two seasons, amassing 81 league appearances and helping the side to a seventh-placed finish in the season before he made his move to Ipswich.
So, it came as quite a shock when Camara played just one minute of League One football for Ipswich Town in his first season at Portman Road, even if surgery on his groin kept him out for several months of the campaign after arriving in a reported £500,000 deal.
What was arguably even worse for the then-26-year-old was that he had to sit and watch his old club be the only side better than the impressive Ipswich team that season, with Argyle winning League One ahead of the Tractor Boys that campaign.
He did score in a brief FA Cup cameo win against Bracknell Town, which will go down as the sole highlight in an uneventful couple of years at Ipswich.
An injury-filled 2023/24 campaign and returning to a former club
Camara was loaned out the season following Ipswich’s promotion to Charlton Athletic, but again endured an injury-filled season, which kept him from truly kicking on in an Addicks’ shirt.
A hamstring injury in their Halloween matchup with Wigan Athletic took him out of action until mid-March. He played just five times in the rest of the season, too, and was understandably let go from his Ipswich contract when it expired as his parent club earned promotion to the Premier League.
However, since he was let go by Ipswich, Camara has reverted to the player he once was, returning to Crawley Town and remaining relatively injury-free in his first season back, at least.
The progression of the 28-year-old will always remain a ‘what if?’ scenario. If he had remained at Plymouth instead of making the move to Ipswich, perhaps he would have been a Championship regular for the Pilgrims.
Nevertheless, he stands as one of the few instances in Kieran McKenna’s young career where he has got something wrong.
Camara was loaned out the season following Ipswich’s promotion to Charlton Athletic, but again endured an injury-filled season, which kept him from truly kicking on in an Addicks’ shirt.
A hamstring injury in their Halloween matchup with Wigan Athletic took him out of action until mid-March. He played just five times in the rest of the season, too, and was understandably let go from his Ipswich contract when it expired as his parent club earned promotion to the Premier League.
However, since he was let go by Ipswich, Camara has reverted to the player he once was, returning to Crawley Town and remaining relatively injury-free in his first season back, at least.
The progression of the 28-year-old will always remain a ‘what if?’ scenario. If he had remained at Plymouth instead of making the move to Ipswich, perhaps he would have been a Championship regular for the Pilgrims.
Nevertheless, he stands as one of the few instances in Kieran McKenna’s young career where he has got something wrong.
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