Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to join Man City

Shamrock Rovers have agreed a deal to sell their 16-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to English champions Manchester City next summer for an initial fee of €400,000.

Bazunu has attracted plenty of cross-channel interest since last month becoming the Hoops’ youngest-ever first-team player but the battle for his signature whittled down to bids by City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs were first to mount a serious bid yet were outmuscled by a distance when City translated their interest into a firm bid recently. Rovers officials, led by Director of Football Stephen McPhail, concluded their negotiations on Friday at the Etihad Stadium before the player and his family met the first-team staff, including first-team manager Pep Guardiola, after Sunday’s humbling of Huddersfield Town.

The teenager has agreed a four-year contract which will begin next June once he completes his Leaving Certificate.

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Amid the hype caused by his six appearances in the first-team, four of them clean sheets, both the player and his manager Stephen Bradley insisted no cross-channel move would occur until his studies at Ashfield College were concluded.

Rovers have an agreement in place with the private school to sponsor the fees of three young players, Bazunu along with Aaron Bolger and Dean Dillon.

The stopper is expected to continue combining his academic duties with football, meaning he will provide Rovers first-choice Alan Mannus with competition during the opening four months of next season in the run-up to his exams.