Ipswich Town goalkeeper Aro Muric could still have a future at Portman Road after tough Premier League campaign

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes that Aro Muric could still have a part to play at Portman Road as he closes in on a return from injury.

Muric, 26, joined the Blues last summer from Burnley for an initial £10m plus a further £5m in add-ons, but he endured a tough season, making a number of high profile and costly mistakes before picking up a shoulder injury in Marxh which required surgery.

The Kosovo international was in Austria with the rest of the squad but was not involved in yesterday afternoon’s friendly against Blau-Weiß Linz, which the Blues won 4-1.

“Aro’s just still working back from his injury, really,” McKenna explained. “He’s back in some training now but is still getting there. He’s really not far away, so the (goalkeeping) unit looks really strong.

“Everything’s possible. Aro’s a really, really talented goalkeeper. He showed that in spells last year and in certain games last year.

“We have four senior goalkeepers at the moment and pre-season is there for people to compete and we need at least three really strong senior goalkeepers in the building. We’ll see how it plays out over the remainder of the summer.”

McKenna added that with the experienced glovesman David Button having joined the ranks earlier this summer, youngster Cieran Slicker is set to leave the club on loan.

“David Button’s had a great impact, I have to say, a top, top goalkeeper, he has made a great impact straight away,” McKenna said.

“Cieran Slicker’s looking at options for loans, so all being well, with David coming in, the plan will be for him to go and get some first-team experience this year, which he’s definitely ready for and get some games.

“We’ll see how that pans out over the next few weeks but it feels like a really strong department at the moment.”