Manchester City have reportedly beaten the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and other top clubs to land Shamrock Rovers prodigy Gavin Bazunu.
The Telegraph report that Manchester City have completed another coup in the transfer market, with Gavin Bazunu agreeing to sign for the Citizens. The Shamrock Rovers star was also a target for the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Celtic, who were all beaten by the Citizens in pursuit of the stopper.
What is even more astonishing is the reported £420,000 that Manchester City have chosen to splurge in order to secure the future of Gavin Bazunu at their club. The fee is a new Irish record for a non-professional player – a player without a professional contract.
Gavin Bazunu has managed to break into the Shamrock Rovers first-team setup. His start to the 2018-19 campaign has been more than reassuring, with the player appearing in the league and Europa league fixtures as well, keeping four consecutive clean sheets in the Irish league.
The 16-year-old has been earmarked to have a bright future, both at club level and for Republic of Ireland. Tottenham were quietly confident of landing the goalkeeper, having established friendly relations with Shamrock Rovers after their bout in the Europa League last season.
Manchester City have won the battle to sign highly-rated goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu (16) from Shamrock Rovers for around £420,000. The player was in Manchester to sign terms this week, with a joining date not yet decided. [Telegraph] pic.twitter.com/mLwOtnLsQN
— City Watch (@City_Watch) September 6, 2018
Chelsea were also linked with a move for the 16-year-old. The Blues had already signed Billy Gilmour from Rangers and have been looking to add to their talent base within the academy.
But City academy director Jason Wilcox’s ties with Shamrock Rovers director of football Stephen McPhail and academy coach Damien Duff aided their cause and saw the reigning English Champions secure the services of Bazunu.
The 16-year-old will remain with Shamrock Rovers for the time being. He will be eligible to sign a professional contract with Manchester City in February, when he turns 17 and is likely to join City’s Elite Development squad before the start of the 2019-20 season.
Manchester City were currently in a goalkeeping crisis of sorts, with Claudio Bravo suffering an injury, which saw City go down to just one option in goal in the form of Ederson Moraes, especially with Angus Gunn being sold to Southampton. The incident saw City being linked to several loan deals before they chose to call back 19-year-old Arijanet Muric from NAC Breda.
Gavin Bazunu would hope to blossom into a world-class goalkeeper, something City would be hoping as well. Manchester City have shown an extravagant show of faith by shelling out the aforementioned fee for the 16-year-old, who is guaranteed to have a fair number of eyes following his development from now onwards.
Manchester City have reportedly beaten the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and other top clubs to land Shamrock Rovers prodigy Gavin Bazunu.
The Telegraph report that Manchester City have completed another coup in the transfer market, with Gavin Bazunu agreeing to sign for the Citizens. The Shamrock Rovers star was also a target for the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Celtic, who were all beaten by the Citizens in pursuit of the stopper.
What is even more astonishing is the reported £420,000 that Manchester City have chosen to splurge in order to secure the future of Gavin Bazunu at their club. The fee is a new Irish record for a non-professional player – a player without a professional contract.
Gavin Bazunu has managed to break into the Shamrock Rovers first-team setup. His start to the 2018-19 campaign has been more than reassuring, with the player appearing in the league and Europa league fixtures as well, keeping four consecutive clean sheets in the Irish league.
The 16-year-old has been earmarked to have a bright future, both at club level and for Republic of Ireland. Tottenham were quietly confident of landing the goalkeeper, having established friendly relations with Shamrock Rovers after their bout in the Europa League last season.
Manchester City have won the battle to sign highly-rated goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu (16) from Shamrock Rovers for around £420,000. The player was in Manchester to sign terms this week, with a joining date not yet decided. [Telegraph] pic.twitter.com/mLwOtnLsQN
— City Watch (@City_Watch) September 6, 2018
Chelsea were also linked with a move for the 16-year-old. The Blues had already signed Billy Gilmour from Rangers and have been looking to add to their talent base within the academy.
But City academy director Jason Wilcox’s ties with Shamrock Rovers director of football Stephen McPhail and academy coach Damien Duff aided their cause and saw the reigning English Champions secure the services of Bazunu.
The 16-year-old will remain with Shamrock Rovers for the time being. He will be eligible to sign a professional contract with Manchester City in February, when he turns 17 and is likely to join City’s Elite Development squad before the start of the 2019-20 season.
Manchester City were currently in a goalkeeping crisis of sorts, with Claudio Bravo suffering an injury, which saw City go down to just one option in goal in the form of Ederson Moraes, especially with Angus Gunn being sold to Southampton. The incident saw City being linked to several loan deals before they chose to call back 19-year-old Arijanet Muric from NAC Breda.
Gavin Bazunu would hope to blossom into a world-class goalkeeper, something City would be hoping as well. Manchester City have shown an extravagant show of faith by shelling out the aforementioned fee for the 16-year-old, who is guaranteed to have a fair number of eyes following his development from now onwards.