YBIG 12
Nathan Collins Burnley to Wolves
Collins signed for Burnley last summer for €14 million from Stoke where he was captain at 20 years old. It took him till the 2nd half of the season to properly break into the Burnley first team and he really excelled scoring 2 goals and putting in towering performances, they almost avoided relegation in the process. Most Burnley fans are livid he was sold so cheaply at €24 million as they know Collins will be playing at the highest level of football, the Wolves move will be a steppingstone to a bigger club. There had been talk that one of the big 6 would put in an offer but Collins wanted to be guaranteed he would start games, so he picked Wolves. He scored a sensational goal for Ireland against the Ukraine in the Nations League. Those performances mean he is now a certain starter for Stephen Kenny’s boys.
Gavin Bazunu Man City to Southampton
Bazunu was on loan with Southampton’s fierce rivals Pourtsmouth last season in League 1, earning their player of the year award, so, his signing has earned Southampton serious gloating rights. But he was a Man City loanee and they decided to cash in for €14 million with a buy back clause rumoured to be in the region of 40 million. Like Collins he sought out first team football in the Premier League. Southampton fans will be pleasantly surprised how good he is. Southampton kick of the season away to Spurs, who are tipped by a lot of pundits to give Man City and Liverpool a run in the title race, so expect Bazunu to make a load of saves in the game. Will that be enough to earn Southampton a draw? You can use online betting to place your bets on the result. In the Nations League games this Summer Bazunu didn’t feature due to injury, incredibly it’s debatable whether he will be Kenny’s first choice again in September, as Liverpool’s Caoimhín Kelleher could be Kenny’s pick.
Aaron Connolly Brighton to Venezia
Connolly broke onto the scene in October 2019 scoring two goals against Spurs for Brighton in his first league start for the club, and well that sadly has been the highlight of his Brighton career. He was fitfully in and out of the team (he suffers from a lot of niggly injuries) and when he did play he was guilty of missing some howlers. He was on loan at Middlesboro in the 2nd half of last season and again it was a move that was underwhelming. Moving to Serie B is an interesting move, it’s vastly different to the Championship in standard and in attendances with a few thousand fans watching the norm. In a recent interview on Ireland fans tv he has admitted to not having the right attitude (he receives a huge amount of unjustified criticism for this from Ireland fans too), so this move could be the making of him. He has the talent to be a good solid striker and every Ireland fan is crossing their toes and fingers hoping it works out for him. He has scored in the pre-season games so that’s a good monkey to get off his back.
Troy Parrott Tottenham to Preston North End
Still only 20 Parrott has been around the block with several loan moves, none of which really worked out well until his move to MK Dons last Summer – even then it was the 2nd half of the season where things finally clicked, and he was instrumental in their push for promotion to the Championship just losing out by a point for automatic promotion from League 1. They lost in the Play Offs and will be playing League 1 again this season. Parrot also alluded to his attitude changing during last season, in a ‘the penny finally dropped’ moment which he said made him work way harder, which resulted in better performances, more goals and assists. During the Summer he trained pre-season with Spurs. Antonio Conte the Spurs manager is notorious for how hard they are and by all accounts Parrott was one of the fittest players, which is brilliant news. It’s hard to know how good Parrott can become so this season should really indicate how high he can go.
Josh Cullen Anderlecht to Burnley
Cullen had two seasons in Anderlecht where he was constantly lauded by his manager Vincent Kompany. So, when Kompany took over at Burnley, it was inevitable that rumours would suggest Cullen would follow, which he did. The first Championship game of the season was last Friday, where Burnley took on Huddersfield away, winning 0-1. Cullen had an outstanding game and was named man of the match. A fantastic start, and if he can maintain that level, he will be one of the best midfielders in the league and the €4million price tag will be a bargain.
