City captain Paudie O’Connor is being linked with a move to the Championship, as per Pete O’Rourke via Football Insider.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen O’Connor linked with a move away, and it always seems to be the same outlet. Indeed, in August 2023, they Tweeted that bids were ‘imminent’ when no bids were forthcoming. The same outlet suggested ‘multiple’ Championship clubs were weighing up a bid for O’Connor this summer as well, and nothing happened.
These reports never seem to surface via anyone else; it’s always Football Insider, and they always seem wholly unfounded. The only difference here is that the captain is out of contract in the summer, and so cheeky bids in January may well be considered—if they look good.
The clubs involved, Preston, Blackburn and Oxford, could feasibly be the sort of places O’Connor would go – however, one must remember the rule of three here. If one report names three seperate clubs all in one go, be wary!
Think of it like this: If Football Insider gets their news from clubs, then they’re unlikely to know the other clubs hunting the player—if we were (for instance) in for George Wickens and another League One club were doing the same, would we be likely to break that news? No, we’d want to keep it quiet and get it done. The selling club might, but I strongly doubt we would be looking to unsettle our captain when the season has started so well.
Therefore, the news has to come from somewhere else. An agent? It’s possible. I don’t know Paudie’s agent, but it could be we are looking to extend his stay here, and the agent is planting a story to get things moving. Again, that’s theoretical, I don’t know his agent, he may be one of the good ones.
The other possibility, and I know it seems crazy, is that the story is designed to get some internet clicks during a really slow time for transfer news. Football Insider, like many other outlets, doesn’t get the traffic between September and November when transfer news is quiet, so you often see stories like this emerge, keeping those clicks rolling in. Remember, this is an industry I have worked in for six years now, and it’s commonplace to be scrabbling for those headline pieces. If you’re an authority, as they are, then you’re able to break executives without fear of them not coming off.
Finally, we’re third. We’re a decent-sized club for engagement on social media (again, this is from personal experience). So, you take a side that is doing well and with a decent fan base engaged on social media, and you have the recipe for a story that is going to do numbers. Cynical? Perhaps. Let’s be honest; the story here says the three clubs are in a ‘race’ to sign O’Connor, but why race? Nothing can be done for a couple of months. Hell, Real Madrid might be waiting like the proverbial tortoise, letting those hares streak off into the distance. Or not.
Upshot of all this? Let’s not get too worried, or start talking about winter fire sales and all of that. I think the club have shown that when players do go we replace like-for-like, and history has told us that when Football Insider say we’re selling or buying, it’s usually only accurate when the deal is already done and scheduled for a day or two later.
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