The Robbie Brady transfer saga looked like it had concluded on Wednesday afternoon, but it seems that it has some way to go yet.
The Guardian reported that Norwich had accepted an initial £9m offer (potentially rising to £12m) from Crystal Palace for the Irish international, and while that deal is still in place, as of now they seem to be leaning more towards signing Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt.
Allardyce said of the Dutch international last week:
“Until the chairman rings me up and says the Patrick van Aanholt deal is dead, it is still ongoing for me,”
which suggests that they are actively pursuing that avenue more rigorously. There seemed to be doubt as to whether or not the club would sign both, particularly as they signed Jeffrey Schlupp last week, but unless one of the deals is called off in the next few days then they may end up doing that. However, there has been some speculation that the Brady agreement is a backup should Van Aanholt fail to come through a medical.
To muddy the waters that bit further, Burnley have apparently re-entered the fray. The Clarets had a £10m bid for Robert Snodgrass accepted by Hull on Wednesday, but West Ham and Middlesbrough have since agreed similar deals with the selling party.
While the latter have since entered into talks to sign PSG forward Jesé Rodríguez and could yet back away if that is successful, the former are unlikely to give up now having finally seen a bid accepted for Snodgrass at the third time of asking.
If Burnley lose out on Snodgrass, their efforts to sign Brady will intensify – assuming he is not a Crystal Palace player by then. Indeed, the Irish Times are of the opinion that they are slight favourites now to sign Brady before the deadline despite the deal in place with Palace.
Right now, the transfer merry-go-round involving Brady, Van Aanholt and Snodgrass has become a tangled web, but the situation should become clearer over the next few days.
Read More About: burnley, Championship, crystal palace, jese rodriguez, middlesbrough, Norwich, patrick van aanholt, Premier League, robbie brady, robert snodgrass, robert sondgrass, sam allardyce, Top Story, transfer news
