Brentford agree deal for Republic of Ireland international Nathan Collins

Nathan Collins

Nathan Collins Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)

The first major Irish transfer story of the window is approaching with the Wolverhampton centre back very close to a move to join Thomas Frank’s Bees. 

Collins only signed for Wolves last summer for a deal worth £20.5 million, an all transfer fee for an Irish player, on a 5-year deal. He is set now to break that record fee again once the deal is completed. 

The Leixlip man made 31 appearances for the Midlands side last season and was a regular starter at the beginning of the last campaign under former boss Bruno Lage. 

However, after the appointment of Julen Lopetegui, who replaced Lage, and the acquisition of Craig Dawson, the former Stoke defender struggled to start much games under the Spaniard. 

Wolves went into this transfer window knowing they would have to sell players to comply with Financial Fair Player rulings and already have offloaded key midfielder Ruben Neves to Al Hilal for £47 million, and Conor Coady for £7.5 million. 

If the deal goes through, it will be worth £23 million according to Sky Sports. 

Collins fits the bill for Brentford as they were keen to bring in a younger centre back to their ranks who they can build around for the future. 

The Irish international is expected to be the first of many Irish internationals on the move this summer with many looking to seek pastures new to secure more game time at club level to keep in the thoughts of Irish manager Stephen Kenny. 

Shane Duffy has dropped down to Norwich City in the Championship to secure first team football in order to gain his place back in the Irish squad ahead of the games against France, Netherlands and Greece coming up in the Autumn. 

About Luke Jordan

Luke joined the extratime.com team in 2022 and is the current host of the extratime.com podcast.

He’s been a follower of the league since 2007 after the FAI Soccer camps gave out … View Full Profile