JACK BYRNE INSISTS he will “give my all to the club” after Shamrock Rovers rejected three bids from Charlotte FC for his services over the last week.
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley admitted the Major League Soccer club made “a brilliant offer, an incredible offer” to the 26-year-old, but were unable to meet the board’s valuation.
Bradley was adamant that Byrne won’t be heading Stateside before their transfer window closes on Monday, while the player stressed his commitment to the Premier Division champions for the remainder of this campaign.
“It is what it is. That’s the club’s decision and we move on. I found out about it when they made the first bid,” Byrne said after helping Rovers to a 2-0 win over St Patrick’s Athletic last night.
“When a club bids, I’m in the game long enough to know that it’s between the two clubs to sort out.
“They didn’t reach a valuation that Shamrock Rovers felt was acceptable so I’m here until the end of the season and I’ll give my all to the club.”
While Bradley confirmed that Rovers are now in the process of formalising a new contract offer for a player whose deal runs out at the end of this season, Byrne admits it is not something that has crossed his mind as of yet.
“To be honest, no. It’s been a mad couple of days and we haven’t been speaking about that anyway.”
Bradley, however, accepted that it is Byrne’s prerogative to allow his contract run out and the club has its “eyes open” to that possibility.
“That’s his right, it’s every player’s right and you have to respect that, like we asked Jack to respect our contract, which he did. We’ve got to respect that Jack can easily stay here until November and then walk out of the door for free,” the Rovers boss added.
“If that happens you can only thank him for what he does. You make these decisions with your eyes open
“I don’t know how those things go. That’s between him and his representatives. I’m sure he will take it away and look at it. That’s Jack’s decision then.”
Bradley was also keen to stress that both he and sporting director Stephen McPhail made it clear to chief executive Ciaran Medlar and the rest of the Rovers hierarchy that they wanted to ensure Byrne remained at Tallaght Stadium.
“Me and Stephen [McPhail] speak to Ciaran Medlar every day. And we did with this. The board always ask our opinion and our feedback. Ours was very clear, we didn’t want to lose Jack.
“The board, to be fair, have backed us on many of those decisions. It would have taken something… it’s outside our window. It would have made no sense for us as a club to do that.
“It wasn’t easy because we know they (Charlotte) made a couple of bids. The board’s stance was always the board’s stance. He’s not for sale. It’s obviously frustrating for them as a club, they’re pushing to get it done.
“Jack is in the middle of that and I’m in the middle of that with Jack trying to speak to all parties and make sure he’s focused on this game [with St Pat's]. To be fair to him his mentality was top class.
“It was a brilliant offer, an incredible offer. The MLS, but you have to respect that Jack has a contract with this club and this club as a board make decisions, and they made a decision understanding how important Jack is for us.
“That’s the realities of football, you sign contracts, and Jack is very clear in his head. He understands that and respects that. From the off the board weren’t moving and I think Jack respected that.”
