Newly capped Republic of Ireland winger Callum O’Dowda has formally signed for English Championship side Bristol City, in a deal thought be worth over €1 million.
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The 21-year-old helped Oxford gain promotion from League Two to League One last season and made his global debut in the pre-EURO 2016 friendly against Belarus in Cork.
Even when O’Neill named his 23-man squad for France, O’Dowda was invited to stick around and train with the squad at their Fota Island training camp.
“I know Callum – whatever anybody else says I have absolutely no reason to believe he wasn’t ill, but the club can only act on the information it receives”.
He said: “I can only report what actually happened – Callum rung in ill on Saturday and couldn’t play against Solihull Moors and then rang in on Sunday to say he’d been up all night”.
“Winning promotion with Oxford was just a dream come true really”.
Oxford chairman Daryl Eales said that the club couldn’t keep hold of the player because of his desire to play at a higher level.
Speaking to the official Bristol City website, O’Dowda expressed his happiness at having joined his new club, and discussed the pressure of making the significant step up from League Two to the Championship.
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Bristol manager Lee Johnson revealed his delight at securing O’Dowda’s signature, noting that the player was highly sought-after. He’s very mobile, comfortable on the ball and hungry to improve.
