Premier League
NATHAN COLLINS was the biggest headline in terms of Irish Premier League news. A year on from moving in what was a record fee for an Irish player and signing for Wolves from Burnley, the Leixlip native broke his own record by joining Brentford in a €27 million deal.
There were other positive moves from an Irish perspective. Matt Doherty ended his nightmare spell at Atletico Madrid by returning to Wolves for a second stint.
Following the expiry of his contract at Rotherham, Chiedozie Ogbene joined Premier League newcomers Luton Town on a free transfer.
Dara O’Shea also moved up a division, signing for Vincent Kompany’s Burnley from West Brom.
And of course, perhaps the biggest surprise was Andrew Omobamidele’s last-gasp Deadline Day transfer in the region of £20 million (€23 million) that saw the 21-year-old move from Norwich to Nottingham Forest.
Championship
It was a busy summer as expected in terms of Championship transfers for Irish stars.
Stephen Kenny will have been especially happy to see Shane Duffy and Jason Knight get what look like good moves.
Duffy has joined Norwich and has already started more league games for the Canaries (4) than he managed in the entirety of his season at Fulham (0).
There was a sense that Knight was too good to be playing in League One last season, and after Derby failed to earn promotion back to the Championship, he sealed a moved to the second tier, joining Bristol City.
After setbacks elsewhere, Aaron Connolly and Enda Stevens have been given a chance to rejuvenate their careers at Hull and Stoke respectively.
Luke McNally has also signed with the Potters on loan from Burnley and will be looking to emulate his stellar loan spell at Coventry last season.
Alex Neil’s side were busy with their Irish recruitment, as goalkeeper Mark Travers also joined on loan after losing his place in the Bournemouth team last season.
And like Connolly, defender James Furlong made a permanent switch from Brighton to Hull, following his successful loan spell with Motherwell last season.
It will be fascinating to see how highly-rated young midfielder Andrew Moran gets on after joining Blackburn on loan from Brighton.
Ryan Manning’s stock is clearly on the rise, as he joined a Southampton side expected to challenge for promotion following the expiration of his contract at Swansea.
Another player Kenny thinks highly of is Jack Taylor. The 25-year-old, who was included in the squad for the recent Greece qualifier, earned a move to Ipswich after Peterborough suffered playoff heartache in League One last season.
Will Keane, meanwhile, left Wigan for Preston. The 30-year-old has two goals already in the Championship this season with his new club, earning an Ireland recall for the France and Netherlands games as a result.
And there was a late deadline-day move for Jeff Hendrick, joining Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Newcastle, with the Dubliner making a temporary switch to a Championship team for the third season in a row.
Finally, Aston Villa youngster Finn Azaz will be hoping for another productive loan spell at Plymouth, having been a key player and scoring eight goals as the club gained promotion from League One last season.
League One
A number of promising young Irish players will be plying their trade in England’s third tier this season.
Bosun Lawal is one after he left Celtic on loan to sign for a Fleetwood side who are second from bottom after five games.
Anthony Scully is another — the attacking midfielder has joined Portsmouth after a disappointing spell with Wigan in the Championship last season.
It will fascinating to see how former St Patrick’s Athletic teenager James Abankwah gets on at Charlton. The 19-year-old has been used sparingly since joining Udinese last year, so it was no surprise to see him leave the Serie A club on loan.
Former Ireland U21 international Louie Watson will also be part of the Addicks’ set-up after the 22-year-old joined on loan from Premier League outfit Luton.
A defender nearly two decades older than Abankwah is Richard Keogh. The 37-year-old signed for Wycombe after his departure from Ipswich.
Joining him at the club is another considerably younger player, Ireland U21 international Killian Phillips, who has signed on loan from Crystal Palace.
Another familiar face is Sean Maguire — the 11-times-capped Ireland international made the switch to Carlisle United after an underwhelming short-term spell at Coventry City in the second half of last season.
Maguire will link up with ex-Ireland U21 international Joshua Kayode, who has also just moved to the club — it’s the young attacker’s third stint there and the sixth time overall he has been loaned out by parent club Rotherham.
League Two
James McClean’s surprise move from Wigan to Wrexham was clearly the headline Irish news as far as League Two was concerned this summer.
However, the Derry native is not the only Irish international playing in England’s fourth tier this season.
Aiden O’Brien, who scored one goal and won five Ireland caps between 2018 and 2019, recently joined Sutton United, on loan from League One side Shrewsbury Town.
After excelling for Derby and making the League One PFA Team of the Year, David McGoldrick somewhat surprisingly rejected a new contract offer from the Rams to sign with hometown club Notts County.
Other names that may be familiar to Irish fans include Liam Kelly (Crawley Town), former Ireland U21 captain Conor Masterson (Gillingham), ex-Man City youngster Ian Lawlor (Doncaster), former Man United starlet Deji Sotona (also Doncaster) and ex-Bohemians player Ross Tierney (Walsall, on loan from Motherwell).
Scotland
Jamie McGrath is the most significant name here.
The ex-Dundalk star earned a much-needed move away from Wigan to sign for Aberdeen, who finished third behind Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership last season.
Limerick native Dara Costelloe will also be hoping to make an impact in the Scottish top flight, having joined St Johnstone on loan from Burnley, for whom the 20-year-old made a handful of Championship appearances last season.
Kieran O’Hara, who represented Ireland twice during the Mick McCarthy era, is now at Kilmarnock after departing Colchester.
Former Ireland international Aiden McGeady is currently playing in the second tier with Ayr United, following the 37-year-old’s brief injury-ridden spell at Hibernian.
Joining him in the Scottish Championship will be veteran midfielder Alan Power. The 25-year-old left Kilmarnock, with whom he played more than 100 times in the top flight, to sign for Greenock Morton.
Europe
Moving further afield than Britain is still relatively rare for Irish players, however, there are some fascinating anomalies as reflected by this summer’s transfer activity.
Undoubtedly the biggest name to fit this category is Troy Parrott — the Tottenham youngster has had a couple of inconsistent seasons in England’s lower tiers, so a stint in Dutch football with Excelsior feels like a necessary change of scenery
In addition, Jake O’Brien has left Crystal Palace to sign for Lyon. The 22-year-old won’t be guaranteed an immediate starting spot for Laurent Blanc’s side and may initially be sent on loan, having impressed last season amid a temporary switch to the Belgian second tier with RWD Molenbeek.
Justin Ferizaj, meanwhile, will be hoping for some game time after leaving Shamrock Rovers for a move to Italy. The 18-year-old has linked up with newly-promoted Serie A outfit Frosinone Calcio.
Others to keep an eye on include Armstrong Okoflex (Zurich), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Joel Bagan (Zulte Waregem), Conor Noss (Blau-Weiss Linz), Mipo Odubeko (Maritimo) and Matt Healy (Royal Francs Borains).
Underage
There are far too many players to go into detail here that have moved to various academies in England and elsewhere.
However, some of the most notable examples include Cathal Heffernan (AC Milan to Newcastle), Sean Moore (Cliftonville to West Ham), and Matthew Moore (Cork City to Hoffenheim).
Transfers in full
N.B. For the purposes of brevity, moves to club academies/reserve teams are not included here.
Conor Masterson (QPR – Gillingham) – Free
Ian Lawlor (Dundee – Doncaster) – Free
Courtney Duffus (Morecambe – Barrow) – Free
Armstrong Okoflex (West Ham – Zurich) – Loan
Shane Duffy (Fulham – Norwich) – Free
Joel Bagan (Cardiff – Zulte Waregem) – Loan
David McGoldrick (Derby – Notts County) – Free
Conor Shaughnessy (Burton – Portsmouth) – Free
Anthony Scully (Wigan – Portsmouth) – Undisclosed
Liam Kelly (Rochdale – Crawley) – Free
Dara O’Shea (West Brom – Burnley) – £7 million (€8 million)
Aiden McGeady (Hibernian – Ayr) – Free
Jack Taylor (Peterborough – Ipswich) – Undisclosed
Justin Ferizaj (Shamrock Rovers – Frosinone Calcio) – Undisclosed
Matt Healy (Ipswich – Royal Francs Borains) – Free
Richard Keogh (Ipswich to Wycombe) – Free
Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (Wolfsburg to PEC Zwolle) – Undisclosed
Ryan Delaney (Morecambe to Newport County) – Undisclosed
Alex Gilbert (Brentford to Middlesbrough) – Free
Nathan Collins (Wolves – Brentford) – £23 million (€27 million)
Enda Stevens (Sheffield United – Stoke) – Free
Shane McLoughlin (Salford – Newport) – Free
Lewis Richards (Wolves to Bradford) – Undisclosed
Ryan Manning (Swansea – Southampton) – Free
Conor Noss (Borussia Monchengladbach – Blau-Weiss Linz) – Undisclosed
Jason Knight (Derby – Bristol City) – Undisclosed
Will Keane (Wigan – Preston) – Undisclosed
Alan Power (Kilmarnock – Greenock Morton) – Free
Kieran O’Hara (Colchester – Kilmarnock) – Free
Peter Kioso (Rotherham – Peterborough) – Loan
Matt Doherty (Atletico Madrid – Wolves) – Free
Ross Tierney (Motherwell – Walsall) – Loan
Corey O’Keeffe (Forest Green – Barnsley) – Undisclosed
Mark Travers (Bournemouth – Stoke) – Loan
Liam Kinsella (Walsall – Swindon) – Free
Sean Maguire (Coventry – Carlisle) – Undisclosed
Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham – Luton) – Free
Jake O’Brien (Crystal Palace – Lyon) – Undisclosed
Aiden O’Brien (Shrewsbury – Sutton) – Loan
Luke McNally (Burnley – Stoke) – Loan
Troy Parrott (Tottenham – Excelsior) – Loan
Aaron Connolly (Brighton – Hull) – Undisclosed
Killian Phillips (Crystal Palace – Wycombe) – Loan
Dara Costelloe (Burnley – St Johnstone) – Loan
Deji Sotona (Burnley to Doncaster) – Undisclosed
Finn Azaz (Aston Villa – Plymouth) – Loan
Mipo Odubeko (West Ham to Maritimo) – Undisclosed
James McClean (Wigan – Wrexham) – Undisclosed
Bosun Lawal (Celtic – Fleetwood) – Loan
Jamie McGrath (Wigan – Aberdeen) – Free
Andrew Moran (Brighton – Blackburn) – Loan
Louie Watson (Luton – Charlton) – Loan
James Abankwah (Udinese – Charlton) – Loan
Jeff Hendrick (Newcastle – Sheffield Wednesday) – Loan
James Furlong (Brighton – Hull) – Undisclosed
Joshua Kayode (Rotherham – Carlisle) – Loan
Andrew Omobamidele (Norwich – Nottingham Forest) – €23 million
