As we face tricky economic times, there is little doubt that the foreseeable future will see League One and Two clubs forced to cut their transfer budgets dramatically as fans consider their disposable income and profits become harder to make. This is likely to have a knock-on effect on the kind of players teams can sign, rendering overseas transfers almost impossible for some. Even those sides tipped for the title on sites as wishcasinos.com are being notably cagey in this transfer window.
While for many teams at this level, looking to Scottish Premiership clubs beyond the Old Firm is considered a handy scouting approach and can see some real bargains, there is another market right on the doorstep that shouldn’t be ignored, and it’s in Northern Ireland. With only a fraction of the clubs across the water being full-time, this could be a place to find real bargains.
One word of warning before we name some of these potential stars: with Kofi Balmer having been picked up by Crystal Palace, and Sean Moore on the radar of bigger clubs still, these are players who could be scouted higher up the pyramid – but if League One clubs move fast, they could pick up some real future stars.
Conor McMenamin (Glentoran)
At age 27, he’s never played outside the Northern Irish leagues, which may give some teams pause, but it didn’t stop him becoming one of the first Glentoran players in the 21st century to be named in a Northern Ireland squad. A model of consistency as a left-sided attacking player, McMenamin creates and scores, and if you want to know how important he is to the Glens, bear in mind that they were top of the league when he suffered a foot injury in November. They’re now sixth, 14 points off the pace and likely to miss out on European football – which may be a reason he’d welcome a move.
Sam Roscoe (Linfield)
Scottish by birth, Roscoe arrived at Windsor Park at the beginning of the 2021/22 season and has become an indispensable part of the Blues’ defence. Aged 24, he’s had a few clubs already since his release by Aberdeen, but has settled very nicely in East Belfast and didn’t look out of place during the team’s heartbreakingly-curtailed European run, which saw them miss out on a Europa Conference League group spot by a matter of seconds. Comfortable carrying the ball into midfield, he’d be a solid first-teamer for most League One sides.
Lee Bonis (Larne)
Already linked with Championship side Rotherham, Bonis is the most expensive player in NIFL Premiership history, having moved for £110,000 to free-spending Larne from Portadown 12 months ago. As well as chipping in with plenty of goals himself, Bonis has carved out a role as an industrious target man who brings others into the game, and his partnership with Paul O’Neill has put the Inver Reds in with a realistic shout of winning their first league title. Any side on the lookout for a powerful striker could do a lot worse.
