While Kieran McKenna is preaching patience with Ipswich Town’s Championship record-setting forward, the history books are queuing up to welcome the Norwegian onto their pages.
EFL Analysis can confirm that Premier League clubs wanted the Ipswich newbie before the Tractor Boys stumped up a fee which makes him the most expensive acquisition in the history of England’s second tier.
No pressure, then.
Now, Kieran McKenna feels like a pretty good fit for a forward whose every touch will be scrutinised in Ipswich Town colours, such is the size of the expectation let alone his price-tag.
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But with Norway international Sindre Walle Egeli breaking another record – a second in the space of just two weeks – all eyes will be on a potential Portman Road debut during Friday’s late kick-off against Ruben Selles’ bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
Kieran McKenna, Manager of Ipswich Town, looks on
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Ipswich Town’s Norway starlet Sindre Walle Egeli has outscored Erling Haaland
Sindre Walle Egeli brings ‘proper Premier League’ quality to East Anglia.
Despite a summer in which Ipswich sensationally raided Norwich for Marcelino Nunez while adding Azor Matusiwa, Ashley Young, Chuba Akpom and Ivan Azon to their already fearsome roster, Walle Egeli remains perhaps the most intriguing Championship addition, as well as the most costly.
📰 We are delighted to confirm the signing of Norwegian forward Sindre Walle Egeli from Danish club FC Nordsjælland for an undisclosed fee.
Welcome to Town, Sindre. 🇳🇴
— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) August 29, 2025
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After making history on the deal sheet, Walle Egeli broke another record this week. On the pitch, this time.
Per Norwegian publication NRK, the 19-year-old former FC Nordsjaelland wonderkid is now the highest all-time scorer for his country at youth level. A brace during a 5-0 thrashing of Slovenia’s Under-21 side took his tally to 35 goals in 43 matches.
Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland, by the way, netted 30 times from the Under-15s to the Under-21s.
Manchester City v Everton FC - Premier League
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“I think, as you do with young players, and we’ve done it really well at the club, you need to go into it knowing that there’s a degree of patience that’s going to be needed,” McKenna tells the East Anglian Daily Times ahead of that Sheffield United clash.
“He’s a young player, just turned 19, never played in England before. The intensity and physicality of the league is a big, big step up from the league he’s been playing in.”
Kieran McKenna plans to repeat Liam Delap success story at Portman Road
Walle Egeli admitted that he chose Ipswich partly because of their fine track record when it comes to handling the progress of young talent. Omari Hutchinson, Leif Davis and new Chelsea number nine Liam Delap, for instance.
McKenna referenced Delap himself while explaining Ipswich’s plan for their Scandinavian sensation.
Liam Delap during Ipswich Town FC v Chelsea FC - Premier League
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
“You know, or you expect, that there will be an adjustment period, but you also don’t put a cap on a player with really high potential. We didn’t do that with Liam last year,” the head coach adds.
“The expectations were maybe at one point, and if the player comes in and goes beyond that quicker, you’re not going to hold that back, you want the talent to flourish.
“He’s a really young player. Of course, there’s a big transfer fee behind him, but that has no bearing on any of my thought processes. That’s the market for where we are as a club.
“You can look at other top young players you can get on loan. We took Omari Hutchinson on loan, zero transfer fee. There shouldn’t be a different expectation on Sindre because of that.
“He is an exceptional young talent, we’ve really enjoyed having him in the building in the last 24 hours. He’s a really confident but humble young man.”
Due to his penchant for cutting inside from the right-wing, Sindre Walle Egeli has been likened to Arjen Robben, the Bayern Munich and Netherlands legend who made an entire career out of his signature move.
His left-footed rocket against Slovenia on that record-breaking night is certainly one Robben would have been proud to call his own.