Callum O'Dowda - the future's bright!

In the first of a series of pieces in the lead up to the new season, I take a look at one of our new signings, one who is arguably both the least known and the most exciting in terms of potential.

It’s pretty safe to say that when the rumours started surfacing about City landing this young, Oxford winger, most had to quickly Google the name to find out a little bit more about him. Kemar Roofe took most of the plaudits at the Kassam Stadium last season and was the player fans perhaps hoped we’d be in for this summer.

On a little more investigation, the move comes as little surprise when you hear Mark Ashton was a big fan of O’Dowda whilst at the U’s, and gets on well with his family. Whether or not you feel Ashton should be the one identifying players or not is a matter for another day, but you’d hope and assume with the network now in place that Lee Johnson has also seen enough to be convinced.

Equally, digging a little deeper I have found out that some at the club actually rated O’Dowda as a better prospect than the afore-mentioned Roofe, despite the latter grabbing most of the headlines last season with his goals and form.

So who is Callum O’Dowda? Well I aim to follow this up with a more in-depth look at him via an interview, but for now I’ll give you the words of Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry), correspondent for Irish Sports website www.SportsJOE.ie.

“Bristol City are getting a lad who has seemingly come from nowhere but who looks like he has been around for ages!

He is a pacy winger, with a trick or two in the bag, but likes to drift in and get on the ball. He had a great 2015/16 with Oxford and scored a brace against Barnet earlier this year.

His grandfather, Brendan O'Dowda, is Irish so that made him eligible to play for us. He was called up for Ireland U21s in March and scored on his second appearance for that side.

Martin O'Neill was hearing good things about him so got Steve Guppy to watch him in club action. A senior call-up soon arrived and he made his debut against Belarus in a 2-1 home defeat before Ireland set off for Euro 2016.

He stood out like a beacon in that game, unafraid to take on and beat his man and demand the ball in the tightest of spots.

My SportsJOE colleague, Conan O'Doherty gave him 8/10 and wrote:
‘Was given just 20 minutes to prove himself to O'Neill and, Jesus, he did everything he could to impress in that time. Looked lively, looked creative, confident and positive and really made things happen for Ireland. As late as late bolters go.’

He was a genuine option for O'Neill at Euro 2016, but he went instead with David Meyler as he could cover a number of defensive and midfield roles. Irish fans have only caught a glimpse of him so far but his Championship move should change all that. Expect him to be a regular in Ireland's World Cup Qualifiers squads!”

A regular in a half-decent Republic of Ireland squad and potentially better than Roofe certainly sounds exciting, and helps justify the apparent fee of over one million pounds – one of the largest in our history.

Let’s hope he can fulfil that potential with us and ensure no-one is googling Callum O’Dowda in future to find out who he is.

COYR!

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