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Arsenal, Manchester United And Tottenham Are Targeting Connor Wickham - But Would English Football's Latest Prodigy Be Better Off Staying At Lpswich Town?

Coveted teenager urged not to join a big club too soon

Being English football’s next big thing is a burden that some carry more lightly than others.

Michael Owen took to the limelight like the manor born, Wayne Rooney was always an assassin-faced baby rather than the other way round while Jack Wilshere looks like he has spent his entire life perfecting one-twos with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.Others anointed for greatness, like Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, are afflicted by growing pains and endured fitful progress through their late teens and into their early 20s.
Then there are those who make an early headline or two without ever living up to their precocious billing, such as Chris Bart-Williams and Justin Fashanu.
How Connor Wickham, the boy with the physique of an Army commando who good judges say is nailed on to lead England’s attack for many years, develops will depend upon the choices he makes and opportunities he gets.
All the big clubs are tracking his development. Scouts from Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham all descend en masse on Ipswich Town’s first-team and reserve-team matches whenever word gets around that Wickham is playing.
Those hoping to monitor the 17-year-old on Tuesday night were disappointed. Tottenham reserve team manager Clive Allen and Arsenal scout Dave Malden were among those in the audience at Portman Road for Ipswich Town’s 3-1 League Cup triumph over Northampton Town but a minor ankle injury sustained in training on Sunday and which Roy Keane had cryptically kept hidden from the media made him a notable absentee.
Scouts from Queens Park Rangers, Charlton Athletic and Reading were also in attendance but asked if they were spying on Wickham, one laughed: “We couldn’t afford him.” There was even a pre-match rumour that Harry Redknapp would pop in for a visit but the wily old campaigner had probably been given the nod.

Low Key | Roy Keane is attempting to dampen the flames of Wickham-mania at Ipswich

On a day when the newly merged Ballon d’Or delivered the news that no English footballer is among the best 23 players on the planet, any crumb of comfort that the future might be better than the present was not to be found on a filthy evening in Suffolk, not on Tuesday night anyway.
By common consent, Ipswich, one of English football’s great talent factories, are nurturing and protecting a diamond that needs only the gentlest of polishing.
Yet Keane has insisted that he has no intention of selling off the family silver, however gold plated. Ipswich’s very own footballing royalty has claimed he would be “lynched by supporters” if he even contemplated cashing in on Wickham.
Is Wickham better off learning his trade away from the Premier League spotlight under the guidance of a manager who knows a thing or two about being a teenage prodigy?
“There could be a better place but at this moment in time he’s at the right place,” observed his team-mate, the Trinidad and Tobago international Carlos Edwards. “Patience is a virtue and it comes with time. Being around myself and the other lads who have been playing a few years, he is learning his trade slowly but surely.
“We are trying to help him in any way possible, the manager is trying to help him by putting him into the squad and at the same time not putting too much pressure on him.”
Wickham has been on the media radar since becoming Ipswich’s youngest-ever debutant at the age of 16 years and 11 days and the spotlight became dazzling when he scored three goals in four league games in April and then led England Under-17s to European Championship glory in the summer with goals in the semi-final and final.
“You won’t hear Keane telling anyone that Connor is a superstar,” one Ipswich employee told me on Tuesday night of a manager keen to dampen the flames of Wickham-mania. He has tended to use the striker as an impact substitute to frighten defences with his 6ft 3in, 14 stone frame that makes him not only a physical freak mature beyond his years but, allied with serious pace, a rare collectors’ item.
“When I first came to the club, I didn’t even know the lad was 16,” explained Edwards, who joined Ipswich last year. “I sat next to him and I thought he was 21. When the guys said he was, like, 16, 17, I was, ‘no way’. They always say looks are deceiving and you should not assume.”
Assuming that teenage prodigies will develop into bona fide stars is also a dangerous game. After missing Ipswich’s opening six games of the season with an injury sustained in the summer, Wickham has yet to open his scoring account nearly three months into the campaign, although eight of his 10 appearances this term have been as a substitute.
In total, the teenager has started only 12 matches for the club – augmented by 29 substitute appearances – which probably explains the relatively low return of six goals.
The word is that Arsenal and Manchester United have leaped above Tottenham in the chase for the striker. Nevertheless, it is attitude, desire and self-belief – as much as physical talent - that will ultimately determine whether Wickham can become a regular at one of the Premier League big guns who are carefully monitoring his development.

"Connor is handling the rumours in a very professional way" - Carlos Edwards

“There’s always a lot of pressure but he can handle it,” said Edwards. “His Dad is on his side, which helps a lot, and is guiding him in the right way and I hope his Dad doesn’t get influenced by all the speculation and rumours. There are always going to be rumours. He’s going about it in a very professional way and I think that by having the gaffer on his side, someone like Roy Keane, he knows what to expect.
“To say he is going to be playing for England is a bit overwhelming at the time. You can’t run before you can walk and that is Connor’s attitude. He is not getting carried away by ‘him saying’ or ‘them saying’ that. The lad comes into training with a big smile on his face and doesn’t look any different to the guy who is playing Under-17s or Under-19s.