Time ticks down towards transfer deadline

As the clock ticked down on Friday night towards the closure of the transfer window, seven of the 23 players Heimir Hallgrímsson named in his first Republic of Ireland squad on Thursday might already have been forgiven for not quite being focused just yet on next month’s Nations League games against England and Greece. That’s because they could all well still be house-hunting, unpacking their life’s possessions and finding their bearings in their new surroundings after summer transfers.
Hopefully Sammie Szmodics, Dara O’Shea and Chiedozie Ogbene won’t all be bidding on the same Suffolk property, resulting in the price going through the roof, the three of them having been signed by Ipswich Town for a combined cost of €34 million.
Among their team-mates are former Republic of Ireland under-21 international Jack Taylor and Marcus Harness, who declared for the Republic five years ago, and, of course, they’re managed by Fermanagh’s own Kieran McKenna. Ipswich should be changing their shirts from blue to green.
A Premier League move for Szmodics was always on the cards after he finished top scorer in the Championship last season with Blackburn, while O’Shea and Ogbene make quick returns having been relegated with Burnley and Luton. You’d imagine, though, that it will be a testing campaign for Ipswich, their first in the top tier in 22 years.
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It could be a taxing one too for Everton, judging by how they have started the season, but you’d hope Cork man Jake O’Brien won’t regret upping sticks from Lyon, where he impressed after his move from Crystal Palace a year ago. The €19.5 million fee Everton paid for the defender, who made his senior Irish debut in June, makes him the costliest senior Republic of Ireland international in the summer transfer window.
After those arrivals/returns to the Premier League, the most significant Irish moves were Adam Idah’s permanent transfer from Norwich to Celtic, where he enjoyed an encouraging loan spell last season; Troy Parrott’s switch from Spurs to AZ Alkmaar, after he scored 17 goals for Excelsior Rotterdam when he was on loan there in the last campaign; and Mikey Johnston’s switch to West Brom which injected some life in to his faltering career when he joined them on loan last season from Celtic, where he couldn’t catch a break.
Possibly the greatest mystery of this transfer window was that Caoimhín Kelleher was still a Liverpool player as the 11.0pm deadline approached. The club had, reportedly, rejected a bid from Nottingham Forest so, short of any last-minute deal, Kelleher looks set to spend yet another season as Alisson’s understudy. Hardly ideal. But after Liverpool signed Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia, where he will stay until next season, it will surely be Kelleher’s last season at the club he joined nine years ago.
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It wasn’t a great window either for two more of Hallgrímsson’s goalkeepers, Southampton’s currently injured Gavin Bazunu and Bournemouth’s Mark Travers. Southampton signed Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal for close to €30 million, while Bournemouth took Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper (€85 million), on loan from Chelsea.
Evan Ferguson, meanwhile, might have been closely monitoring his WhatsApp messages on Friday, with chat swirling about the place that Chelsea would attempt to sign him up if their efforts to recruit Ivan Toney or Victor Osimhen failed.
You’d guess there are no small sighs of relief when that window shuts, the waiting and wondering must be exhausting.
Jake O’Brien: Lyon to Everton (€19.5 million)
Dara O’Shea: Burnley to Ipswich (€14.2 million)
Sammie Szmodics: Blackburn to Ipswich (€10.6 million)
Adam Idah: Norwich to Celtic (€9.9 million)
Chiedozie Ogbene: Luton to Ipswich (€9.5 million)
Troy Parrott: Spurs to AZ Alkmaar (€8 million)
Mikey Johnston: Celtic to West Brom (€3.5 million)
Sinclair Armstrong: QPR to Bristol City (€3 million)
Conor Coventry: West Ham to Charlton (€1.2 million)
Alan Browne: Preston to Sunderland (free)
Conor Hourihane: Derby to Barnsley (free)
Tom Cannon: Leicester City to Stoke City (loan)
Andy Moran: Brighton to Stoke City (loan)