THE CORONAVIRUS HAS left its mark on transfer activity as well as everything else with Newcastle United’s interest in signing Irish players, Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick, placed on hold. Celtic are also monitoring Hendrick’s situation closely.
The midfielder – capped 54 times by Ireland – is out of contract on 30 June this year whereas Burnley have the contractual right to trigger a clause in Brady’s deal which would see him remain on board until June 2021. Sources have indicated they are likely to take that option and have also suggested that Hendrick is likelier to be at Burnley next season than elsewhere.
A major complication in all of this is the global sporting shutdown caused by the Coronavirus with The Athletic reporting today that Fifa are set to extend the 2019-20 season indefinitely and facilitate contract extensions for players whose deals expire at the end of June. It is unclear, however, if this emergency legislation would compel players to extend their stay at a club if their preference was to leave.
April normally is when the wheeling and dealing between clubs and football agents intensifies. However, little to no business is being done right now, with clubs re-evaluating their budgets on a daily basis.
Burnley released a statement via their website on Saturday saying they are anticipating the loss of €5.8 million per game if matches are moved behind closed doors when the Premier League resumes. In total, the club fears it could lose €50 million.
“It’s a completely unprecedented situation that we and other Premier League clubs face and which we could not have foreseen in any way only just a few weeks ago,” Mike Garlick, the Burnley chairman, said.
“It’s now not just about Burnley or any other individual club anymore, it’s about the whole football ecosystem from the Premier League downwards and all the other businesses and communities that feed from that ecosystem.”
In this context, no deals are likely to be struck any time soon irrespective of how interested Newcastle and Celtic are in their midfielders.
Best of luck to him, hope he gets his career back on track…. He could be a great asset and option for our young Irish team with his experience. Good move going to Bournemouth, they’re going well and will be in the mix for promotion.
@Jerriko17: hope he does well but has prob 10 good games in an otherwise mediocre career. Honesty he disappointed me cos I though he would come out good.
@Martin Glynn: he’s not impressed with Marty Glynn either I’ve heard!
@Jerriko17: all good, but he has to make the team, sitting on the bench no good.
Don’t see him as first choice for Ireland at this stage,but he adds a bit of experience to the squad and offers a decent option wide on the left of midfield
@Lesidees: where did it all go wrong for him?
@Ciaran O’Mara: injuries and a negative style of play at Burnley. Hopefully he can kick on from here for a few more years.
Last chance saloon.
At 29yrs of age he should be playing his best football now, up to him what he makes of this chance. Never fulfilled his potential.
Strikes me as someone who lives on few past glories.. Little desire to push on and create new glories and better himself as a player. Very injury prone too, which isn’t his fault of course to be fair
@Nigel o’Neill: could not agree more. Does not get involved in the game . A bit similar to Hourihane
Too late for him.
There is reason nobody wanted to sign him
Great to see