Arsenal finally turn covetous eyes back across Irish Sea with record €2m deal for Ozhianvuna
GUNNER BE GOOD: Victor Ozhianvuna is poised for a €2m move to Arsenal. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
ARSENAL have made teenager Victor Ozhianvuna the most expensive Irish export, paying an initial €2m to Shamrock Rovers to recruit the midfielder in January 2027.
Brexit rules prevent the 16-year-old moving permanently to London until he turns 18 but the Gunners have been working for 18 months on a pre-contract deal for the Ireland U17 international.
Ozhianvuna has only played 170 minutes of League of Ireland football since making his debut in February but the Gunners ended their long Irish recruitment drought believing they have a player capable of cutting it at the top.
The deal eclipses the €1.9m record fee which Arsenal’s North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur brokered with St Patrick’s Athletic for Mason Melia in February.
Unlike Ozhianvuna, he’s a regular LOI starter, receiving praise recently from Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s for leading the line against his Besiktas side in the Conference League. The striker will move full-time to Spurs in January.
Ozhianvuna will be sticking around for another 15 months before his four-and-a-half-year contract begins.
He’s been used sparingly for Rovers boss Stephen Bradley, whose side are seven points clear at the top of the Premier Division, with a game in hand. They are on the cusp of a third Conference League group/league phase in four years, taking a 2-1 lead against Portuguese outfit Santa Clara into Thursday’s second leg at Tallaght.
Bradley himself was an Arsenal apprentice in 1999, touted as the next big thing when moving at 16 in a blockbuster deal worth €250,000.
He didn’t make a first-team appearance for the club, eventually reviving his career in the LOI, and spoke later about the perils of early windfalls adversely affecting player motivation.
Another former Irish Gunner, Graham Barrett, has been an influential figure in Ozhianvuna.
He managed the youngster’s schoolboy team at Shamrock Rovers and it was during a win over Arsenal’s equivalent team in London that scouts spotted Ozhianvuna’s potential. That Gunners side featured Max Dowman, who on Saturday made his Premier League debut in the 5-0 hammering of Leeds United.
Also in that all-conquering Rovers underage team was Nathan Collins’s cousin Brody Collins, who recently joined Bundesliga Shalke 04 on a four-year deal.
Another teammate Desmond Sinclair – younger brother of Ireland striker Sinclair – has also been on trial with Roma, while Tadgh Prizeman and Danny Burke have been part of the Rovers first-team squad.
Barrett is no longer involved at Rovers but as a registered intermediary acted for Ozhianvuna in hatching this deal.
As revealed by the Irish Examiner in April, the player and his family – his father is Nigerian, mother Russian – were guests of Arsenal in London.
Former defender Per Mertesacker is now Academy director and, while a deal was agreed in principle at that juncture, the finer details have since been formalised to pave the way for a final accord.
While Ozhianvuna is eligible for other countries, his allegiance to Ireland is absolute and he’s due to represent his country at the Qatar-hosted U17 World Cup in November.
Meanwhile, Rovers are in danger of losing Cork-born defender Josh Honohan before Monday week’s transfer deadline. The Irish Examiner first revealed on Friday that League One side Lincoln City want to enlist the 24-year-old. An initial bid of £350,000 (€410,000) is under consideration but no decision will be made until after Rovers European fate is decided on Thursday.
Imps boss Michael Skubala spoke confidently after their 1-1 draw at Bolton Wanderers of recruiting two players before the window closes.
Ironically, Honohan is being targeted to replace fellow Irishman Sean Roughan, the left-back sold to Huddersfield Town last month.
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