Over the past week, relegated side Burnley have been trying to secure Josh Ginnelly’s signature. Numerous clubs have been linked to the youngster but Burnley are intent on securing the youngster. Ginnelly has not featured in Shrewsbury’s pre-season programme, instead he has tried to fashion a move to another club, he appeared in a game as a trialist against Dereham Town for Norwich City.
Manager Micky Mellon is confident that Burnley will meet Town’s valuation, what ever that may be. It is likely Burnley have tried to be haggling a lower price for Ginnelly but Town have been adament the Clarets pay the full amount. Town will be more desperate for this transfer to take place, Ginnelly has shown that he has zero interest of playing at the Greenhous Meadow and they also need the funds to hold onto right-back Jermaine Grandison and forward Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro. It has been an ugly transfer saga but it is good to see it is close to it being resolved.
We can’t escape the fact that Ginnelly is not exactly a proven player in the Football League, he came of the bench three times last season, didn’t exactly set League Two on-fire. It will also be interesting to see what role Ginnelly is handed at Turf Moor, he might have to slip into another youth set-up, or Sean Dyche might want to include him in the first team picture. Shrewsbury are not known to publish how much players a sold for, but if Burnley pay a hefty amount it might result in Ginnelly playing some first team football. If the move does not materialise, there are still a number of clubs that will be monitoring Ginnelly.
This situation is similar to the one experienced with Andre Gray, Gray was a product of the Shrewsbury youth system but only featured four times. Unlike Ginnelly, Town stupidly decided to release Gray and Hinckley Town picked up the free-agent. Fast forward five years, Andre looks likely to join Hull for a rumoured 7 million. Hopefully Ginnelly follow Gray’s footsteps and turns into a top player, good luck to the lad!
