Championship sides including Preston North End and Swansea City are set to battle it out for the signature of highly-rated Grimsby Town left-back Anthony Glennon, according to Pete O’Rourke from Football Insider.
The 23-year-old, who is entering the final year of his deal in North East Lincolnshire, has been a standout performer for the Blundell Park outfit since his arrival at the club from Burnley, coming up with 12 goal contributions in 39 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring on three occasions and assisting a further nine times.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE! 🚨 – Swansea and Preston in race to sign Grimsby Town star Anthony Glennon. 🏁
✍️: @SportsPeteO#Swans #PNEFC
Full story ⬇️— Football Insider (@footyinsider247) June 9, 2023
Who is Anthony Glennon?
Predominantly a left wing-back who can also play at left-back as well as on the left-wing, Anthony Glennon had been on the books of Liverpool’s Academy since the age of six, but he would eventually leave the club in 2018 after failing to earn a professional deal.
Shortly after his release from Liverpool, it wouldn’t take Glennon long to find a new club as he signed for Burnley after initially impressing on trial with the Clarets and was quickly made captain of the under-23’s team shortly after his arrival.
In a bid to experience first-team football, the 23-year-old would be Ian Holloway’s first signing in charge of Grimsby Town as he joined the club on loan in January 2020 until the end of the season. Glennon went on to make 12 appearances and scored one goal for the Mariners in the second half of the 2019/20 season before the campaign was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite a further loan spell in League Two with Barrow for the second half of the 2021/22 season in which he made 16 appearances for the Bluebirds, the full-back was eventually released by Burnley at the conclusion of the campaign, with Glennon making three appearances for the Clarets‘ first-team whilst with the club.
Following his departure from Turf Moor, Glennon would eventually go on to sign for Grimsby Town on a permanent deal in the summer of 2022 on a two-year deal, this time, managed by current boss Paul Hurst. In 39 appearances in all competitions for the Mariners in his first full season at the club, Glennon scored three goals and assisted 9 times as Grimsby would end the League Two season 11th in the table.
An opportunity to cash in?
Glennon is entering his second and final year of his two-year deal with Grimsby Town but in the event a Championship side do come knocking, it could potentially lead to an opportunity in which both the Mariners and the 23-year-old will be unable to turn down, which could leave Danny Amos as Grimsby’s only left-back.
Swansea City look to be in the market for a new left-back this summer with the expected departure of Ryan Manning imminent with his contract expiring, following a season in which the Republic of Ireland international notched up five goals and ten assists across 46 appearances in the previous campaign for the Swans.
As for Preston North End, the responsibility at left-back was shared by experienced duo Andrew Hughes and Greg Cunningham last season as the Deepdale outfit went on to finish 12th in the Championship table.
Writer’s View
As a Grimsby supporter writing this, I’m personally not surprised to see Anthony Glennon getting interest from the Championship after the season he’s just had. He’s easily been one of Grimsby’s standout performers over the previous campaign who I feel is more than capable of making that big step up to the Championship.
As much as I would be gutted to see him leave as he has been an influential player for us over the past season, I honestly think it could be a good opportunity for Grimsby to cash in on the left-back, with Glennon entering the final year of his deal at Blundell Park.
A player who is good at getting up and down the left-hand side as well as being a massive threat from set-pieces, I think if he was to leave, whoever was to pick up Glennon is getting a real gem of a player who will only get better with experience.
