Big Sam would have been just perfect for Rob

IT WOULD be a real shame if Robbie Brady is not a Premier League player again by the end of the transfer window. He is Premier League quality and Norwich City know it, which is why they wanted to keep hold of him at the start of this season.

Once their challenge for promotion faded, the club seem to have accepted he is too good an asset to keep and if a club like Burnley can match Norwich’s £10 million valuation it would be a good deal for both sides.

It is a pity that a proposed move to Crystal Palace, which looked a possibility earlier in the week, has not materialised.

Sam Allardyce has instead decided to go for Patrick van Aanholt, who he knows well from Sunderland last season, having already signed Jeffrey Schlupp from Leicester.

Allardyce would have been the perfect manager to get the best out of Brady (above) and take him to the next level.

But a move to Burnley to work with their manager Sean Dyche would not be the worst in the world as they look to avoid relegation and earn a second Premier League season.

He would also be reunited with his mate Jeff Hendrick and the pair could look to build on their understanding which worked very well for Ireland in the Euro 2016 finals in France.

Brady will certainly be keen to avoid relegation after suffering that fate at Hull and Norwich, although it certainly had nothing to do with his contribution, which has been excellent since he left Manchester United and started playing regularly.

He deserves to be back in the Premier League, and I really hope he gets a move this week. Conor Hourihane got his this week, joining another manager I know well. He could not have picked many better than Steve Bruce.

Hourihane richly deserves his chance at Aston Villa and with the Championship’s best assist record for a central midfielder, Bruce knows what he is doing.