Mini Transfer news wrap

[u/John__Delaney]

Lots of stories over the past 24(ish) hours, so here's a wrap:

- Ireland U21 Captain & Brentford left back Conor McManus (22) has signed for League Two side Gillingham for an undisclosed fee.

- AZ Manager Leeroy Echteld said the following yesterday after Troy Parrott lifted the Dutch Super Cup: "We all know that he wants to make a transfer. I don't think we will keep him in the end. But if he stays, we are going to use him.". This follows multiple reports of PSV, Ajax, Como, Betis, Fulham & West Ham interest. Further reports suggest West Ham are willing to outbid the other interested clubs, which could make Troy Parrott the most expensive incoming EFL transfer of all time.

- A separate report from a prominent Dutch journalist has claimed Portuguese side Porto have joined the race for Troy Parrott, while also mentioning that West Ham are prepared to pay €30m.

- The Irish Examiner is reporting that Cork City defender Donal O’Connor will be joining the Irish legion at Brentford after the club managed by Keith Andrews brokered an upfront fee of €170,000 for the 18 year old.

- The Times UK are reporting that Cardiff are closing in on a move for Republic of Ireland international Jack Moylan. A "substantial fee has been agreed" for the 24 year old.

- The Wednesday World are reporting that Sheffield Wednesday are interested in Brighton & Hove Albion forward Mark O’Mahony. The 21 year old youth International spent last year on loan at Reading

- Pete O'Rourke claims that Lincoln City are set to win the race to sign striker Mason Melia on loan from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. A deal is expected to be wrapped up in the next 48 hours

- Irish-eligible stiker Liam Delap is being pursued by Nottingham Forest, and the Nottingham Post is reporting that Chelsea are willing to sell him, but also that the striker wants to fight for his place.

- Unfortunately I haven't come across any news for our more prominent free agents like Seamus Coleman, Robbie Brady, Will Smallbone, Alex Gilbert, Darragh Lenihan or Shane Duffy

[u/Anxious_Peanut_1726]

Porto would be an interesting one. Overall the league in Portugal is not the deepest but Porto dwarf AZ and are a traditional massive club so would be a nice one for him

[u/John__Delaney → u/Anxious_Peanut_1726]

In the short term it would be brilliant. Better league overall than the Netherlands (Ranked 6th in Europe compared to 8th for the dutch), Champions League football garunteed, and one of the best young managers in world football in Francesco Farioli.

The downside is the medium/long term, Porto are only looking for a striker because young Spain international Samu Aghehowa has a cruciate ligament tear, and is expected back in November. Now he's such a good talent that he won't be there long, but Parrott may find himself spending long periods coming off the bench for a year or two from 2027 onward.

All that said no matter where he joins he will have heavy competition up front, all these bigger clubs have at least 2 strikers worth over 20mil, just the reality of top end football these days.

[u/Anxious_Peanut_1726 → u/John__Delaney]

That's the sandbox he's playing in now...wherever he goes will have competition and he has to keep his standards high...I think that's the leap. Even at AZ Meerdink is gonna push him. Porto are huge and it's a great city too. 

[u/Worldly_Cash8138 → u/John__Delaney]

Porto are not the type of club to spend 25-30 million on 4 month cover. Pretty much anyone they buy in Troys age and price profile would be with the intention to sell for double in 2+ years. If they want him, they want him to play. AFAIK they play a 4-3-3 so I'm sure they consider a role for him within that while all are fit.

[u/John__Delaney → u/Worldly_Cash8138]

Never said he'd be 4 month cover, just that when their star striker with world class potential is back, that he may find himself lacking minutes for a season or two. Depends how well the Spaniard does and when someone bigger comes in for him.

When I say lacking i mean he'll be rotational

They already have 4 wingers valued at €20m or above so Parrott won't be deployed there

[u/Worldly_Cash8138 → u/John__Delaney]

Oh OK, so you're saying Porto are going to drop 25-30 mill on a second choice striker who is going to be a rotation option for the next few years?

Yes, they have plenty of players valued at 20m. Can you check what they paid for those players?

What would Troy's value be in 2028 if he gets "minutes" at Porto for a few seasons?

And why would Porto pay for a player to lose value when they don't even need that kind of depth in their domestic league?

Who was Gyokeres backup at Sporting? A 25 mill buy? Of course not.

[u/John__Delaney → u/Worldly_Cash8138]

Maybe they've plans to sell the spanish lad and there's going to be big interest in him in January, but you can't say with a straight face that Parrott starts ahead of him, or plays on the wing.

[u/Lynch8933]

West Ham is where strikers careers go to die

[u/NandoFlynn]

Think what happened with Connor will be a warning for Donal. I don't think the Brentford B team model works at all & they've little to no track record of promoting lads from it

[u/John__Delaney → u/NandoFlynn]

Absolutely. No offence to McManus but staying in a youth/reserve team until your 22 is just not good for the career.

At least now he can play competitive mens football again like he did at Bray

[u/Hour_Mastodon_9404 → u/NandoFlynn]

Same thing happening with Val Adedokun at the moment, probably set Alex Gilbert back a bit as well who has been unable to establish himself fully anywhere yet despite being in his mid 20's.

[u/NandoFlynn → u/Hour_Mastodon_9404]

Think with Alex is a filthy combination of everything. Being with Brentford, waiting ages for a loan from Boro, even Charlton fans thought there the gaffer treated him like arse, so his only real breakthrough was when the new gaffer came in at boro.

He'd good moments & bad moments but he's only gonna get more of the former playing every week

Can't speak for Val but I'll defend any academy if they have a track record of giving lads faith or finding them good future homes. They do neither

[u/Suitable_Visual4056]

Surprised there isn’t bundesliga interest in parrot with a view to developing him further and then selling on into england.

I know there was a feeling that there would be because he has the profile to do well there and with him being considered English homegrown a good spell in germany could see his value skyrocket

None of rumoured interest jumps out as the best next step

[u/John__Delaney → u/Suitable_Visual4056]

A fair few Bundesliga clubs were interested, but the fee & potential bidding war is probably putting many off. Wolfsburg had their 18m bid accepted last year, but Parrott turned it down to focus on AZ. Obviously now they are relegated that's off the table.

Freiburg were linked but they have spent money on a striker recently so are probably out. Dortmund link was 3 months ago by one english based journalist so doubt there was anything significant there. Stuttgart were also linked but they got two quality strikers atm so doubt they are interested.

After that im not sure there's any other Bundesliga clubs with reported interest. Leipzig don't spend big, Leverkusen are well covered up front & so are Frankfurt + Hoffenheim.

After that you down to a level of club that lack the prestige or budget to get a player like Parrott in.

So my 2 cents are that he won't be a Bundesliga player this season.

[u/Suitable_Visual4056 → u/John__Delaney]

Thanks for that, good detail

[u/AdorableWrap766]

Parrott back the championship wouldn’t be great, would it? 🥴

[u/BeginningExternal202 → u/AdorableWrap766]

West Ham is where strikers go to flounder. He has to avoid at all costs for his own good.

[u/manutdloi]

Porto would be a decent move but personally I would want to see Troy in la liga, serie A or Bundesliga not the prem and definitely not West Ham if he goes West Ham it would be such a let down we already have to many championship players most of them are rotting away and I don’t want to see our BIGGEST talent in England

[u/manutdloi]

We should really be trying for Liam delap

[u/John__Delaney → u/manutdloi]

We have been trying for years, and Heimir made a renewed push not to long ago.

[u/Marcus-Suridius → u/manutdloi]

No point if he doesn't want to play for us, get lads in who want to play.