Burnley made one of the most eye-catching deals on deadline day, signing Republic of Ireland international Robbie Brady from Norwich City for an undisclosed club record fee, believed to be worth up to a possible £13 million.
The 25-year-old penned a three-and-a-half-year contract with the Clarets, with the option for another year, and is available to make his debut against Watford on Saturday.
Speaking after Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory over Leicester City, Burnley manager Sean Dyche revealed he was happy with the new boy’s versatility:
“He’s got experience, and he can play in probably three different positions, so we’ll see what he adds in that respect.”
Brady, meanwhile, is desperate to nail down a regular role after making a return to top-flight football:
“It’s a great move for me. It’s where everybody wants to be and for me to get the opportunity, and the manager to give me the opportunity, to come and play in it again is fantastic. I will grab it with both hands and hopefully, I can do my bit to help the lads. It’s been a fantastic start to the season, and it looks like a club going in the right direction. I’m just buzzing that the manager has showed enough faith in me to want to bring me here and hopefully I can repay him. I’m ready to work hard and learn how things work here and hopefully, I can fit in and do my bit.”
The History
Born in Dublin, Brady spent his youth career at local club St. Kevin’s Boys, before joining Manchester United’s academy shortly after his 16th birthday in January 2008.
His first experience of professional football came during a loan spell at Hull City during the 2011/12 season, making his debut against Blackpool in August 2011.
Brady played in 38 league matches that season, registering three goals and two assists, and after making his only United appearance as a substitute against Newcastle United in the League Cup in September 2012, he returned to Hull for a second loan spell.
He continued to impress for the Tigers, and completed a permanent deal to join Hull in January 2013. Brady totalled an impressive four goals and 13 assists in 32 outings that season, and played his part in their promotion back to the Premier League.
Injuries limited the Irishman to just 18 appearances in the 2013/14 campaign, seeing him tally just three goals and one assist.
Brady featured 27 times in the following season, but only managed two assists in terms of attacking returns, and was part of the Hull side that suffered relegation back to the Championship.
But he completed the move to Norwich City in July 2015, allowing him to continue in the top flight.
Brady enjoyed a decent season for the Canaries, registering three goals and four assists, but would ultimately suffer the ignominy of relegation for the second successive season.
Brady has been in good form during the first half of this campaign, racking up four goals and five assists in 23 appearances for the Canaries in the second tier.
After representing the Republic of Ireland through all the different age-groups, Brady made his senior debut in a 4-1 win over Oman in September 2012, registering a goal and two assists.
He was one of Ireland’s star performers in Euro 2016, scoring against both Italy and France, taking his tally to seven for his country from 31 matches.
The Prospects
Given that Burnley tried to sign Hull’s Robert Snodgrass before bringing Brady to Turf Moor, it appears that Dyche was looking to strengthen his options in the wide midfield positions.
So while Brady is capable of playing at left-back, it’s expected he’ll be used primarily on the left wing, and perhaps on occasion on the right flank.
Dyche has stuck pretty rigidly with a four-man midfield this season, with the likes of George Boyd, Scott Arfield and Johann Berg Gudmundsson primarily starting out wide, although he has occasionally played a 4-2-3-1.
Boyd has made the most starts of the three with 19, with the majority of those coming on the right, so it’s likely that Brady could emerge as the regular starter on the left. He may even be handed an immediate opportunity away to Watford this weekend after Steven Defour – who has been recently utilised on the left – was ruled out with a hamstring problem.
Looking at the underlying statistics, Brady has averaged a key pass every 52.8 minutes this season, firing an effort on every 54.4 minutes. On both counts, that’s quicker than any of the Burnley midfield regulars, albeit in a lower division, though his endeavours have impressed in a Norwich side that mired in mid-table in the Championship.
His appeal is likely to be determined to a large extent by whether he is able to snatch any of Burnley’s set-piece duties.
Brady’s quality of delivery from his left foot is one of his major strengths, and he should be in line to compete with the likes of Defour, Gudmundsson, Arfield and perhaps fellow new signing Ashley Westwood.
That’s quite a queue of players, though, so it remains uncertain as to whether he can force his way to the front of the line.
Brady has also scored a number of penalties during his career, but considering that Andre Gray and Sam Vokes having previously shared spot-kick duties, he could struggle to move up the pecking order.
Given that he’s been priced at 5.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the Irishman could become an interesting option should he command a regular starting berth out wide for the Clarets, and also have his fair share of set-piece duties.
The upcoming schedule for Dyche’s men (wat, CHE, hul, swa, liv, sun) isn’t particularly favourable, though, considering they’ve only picked up one point away from Turf Moor this season.
So with no real incentive to currently invest in Burnley attackers, we look to have the ideal opportunity to sit back and take stock of Brady’s early performances, and crucially where he stands in the pecking order for dead-ball duties.
With plenty of options to choose from in the sub-6.0 bracket, among midfielders, there’s a strong possibility Brady may not emerge as one of the leading options purely due to the number of away matches Burnley have over the next few months.
But he certainly looks worth monitoring and could enter our thinking if the Clarets progress past non-league Lincoln City in the FA Cup fifth round as you’d expect, leading to a double Gameweek towards the end of the season, with their trip to Anfield requiring a reschedule.
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