The Imps have been linked with a move for former Wolves U23 keeper Rory Brown, as per Football Insider.
The 22-year-old, capped by Northern Ireland at Under 17 level and the Republic at later ages, spent much of his youth with Wolves without making a senior appearance. He was named on the bench at the age of 16, and turned down a professional deal in favour of a return to Ireland in 2019.
He appeared for Glentoran, spending time on loan at Ballinamallard, before again turning down a new deal, this time to leave Belfast for Lurgan, where he opted to join Glenavon. He’s impressed with the Lurgan Blues, where he is a teammate of Michael O’Connor, and he even penned a new five-year deal as recently as November.
Gary Hamilton hails Glenavon goalkeeper Rory Brown as "best in the league" after performance against Glentoran https://t.co/HlpOziImCp
— Belfast News Letter (@News_Letter) March 1, 2023
However, he is now wanted by the Imps, if reports are to be believed, which could mean we’re hoping to have our own owned first-team keeper for the first time since Josh Vickers in the 2019/20 season. Since then, we’ve relied on loans, enjoying Alex Palmer, Josh Griffiths and Carl Rushworth in the keeper’s jersey.
We’re not the only League One team reported to be eyeing a move for Brown – Oxford United are also credited with an interest. They’ve had joy recruiting from Ireland, with Mark Sykes (Glenavon) and Gavin Whyte (Crusaders) both doing well for them and moving to the Championship.
Glenavon are currently eighth out of 12 in the Northern Ireland Premier League, where the season runs roughly the same as ours. Brown has kept five clean sheets in that spell.