Kieran McKenna is a dark horse to become the next Liverpool boss.

That is according to Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony, who believes McKenna is destined to manage a so-called ‘Big Six’ side after guiding Ipswich to the top of the Championship. McKenna spent over three years as a first-team coach at Manchester United before joining the Tractor Boys in December 2021.

He kept Ipswich in League One before guiding them to promotion last season. The Suffolk club are riding a crest of a wave right now and have a serious chance of returning to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. During his time at Portman Road, McKenna has won 73 of his 125 matches so far.

And now, MacAnthony has backed McKenna to become a Premier League boss in the future, pointing out the vacancy available at Liverpool when Jurgen Klopp leaves in the summer. The Reds are considering their options to replace the German and could look at the work McKenna is doing at Ipswich.

Asked if McKenna is destined to manage in the top flight, MacAntony told talkSPORT: “Yeah, I was being laughed out of the studio by [producer] Luke – a Liverpool fan – this morning, as an outside dark horse (to succeed Klopp).

“I love his brand of football. I’ve been watching him since last year in League One and what he’s done. You can say that Ipswich are a big club, but they didn’t go out and spend mega-millions in the summer.

“They kept a large part of the squad and the team from League One and they’re top of the Championship with five or six games to go, it’s incredible really. It’s not just his coaching and managing, it’s his style as well. It’s great to watch. If you watched that game yesterday, it was a great advert for the industry. It was just non-stop. Russell [Martin] does a great job with Southampton and his style.

Kieran McKenna has done an excellent job at Ipswich ( 
Image:
Paul Phelan/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)
“Then you’ve got Ipswich with their style and it was just an enthralling game to watch and that’s what you want to see. I think he’s destined for the top. I think he wins promotion with Ipswich this year and he’ll surprise people with what he’ll do with them in the Premier League and within five or six years, he’ll be managing a top-six club.

“That’s with due respect to Ipswich. I respect everything they’ve done there, but I don’t think you can keep a guy like that down forever.”

Liverpool are still searching for their new manager after Klopp confirmed back in January he will be stepping down at the end of the season. Xabi Alonso was the red-hot favourite to succeed Klopp but has ruled out a departure and will stay at Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is not on their shortlist and they are looking at alternative targets. Ruben Amorim and Julian Nagelsmann are among the new leading candidates to replace Klopp as the Reds embark on a new adventure, eight years since Brendan Rodgers was sacked.