At the start of July 2019, Irish defender John Egan was Sheffield United’s record signing. Fast forward 11 days and his international colleague Callum Robinson had – by some distance – become the newly promoted English Premier League club’s most expensive acquisition.
In between, the Blades had also splashed out more than they had paid for Egan to bring QPR’S Luke Freeman to South Yorkshire. In the days after Freeman arrived – but before Robinson put pen to paper – United boss Chris Wilder said he expected the club’s transfer record to be broken “a few more times” this summer. Such is the way of things, if you hope to compete in the top flight.
So how did Robinson – signed for a reported fee of around €8 million – join Egan, who left Brentford for Sheffield in July 2018 in a deal said to be worth over €4 million?
The short answer is that the 24-year-old is a fine player. Capable of operating both on the wing or more centrally, he had just registered a career-high 12 league goals in what was his fourth season at Preston North End since initially spending a second loan spell there.
Robinson had other options, but this transfer went through swiftly once the Championship runners-up made their move. On Thursday, when he heard that Preston had accepted a bid, the attacker was in Cork along with club and international teammates Alan Browne, Graham Burke and Sean Maguire. Less than 24 hours later, he arrived in Portugal to watch Egan and Stevens help United win a friendly against Real Betis thanks to a David McGoldrick goal.
“I was training in Cork pre-season with Preston – Fota Island,” Robinson told me after the game.
“The call come in saying the bid got accepted and I left within two to three hours, which was quite hard for me actually because I’ve been with them lads – most of them – for four or five years.
“So it was a little bit emotional, but then buzzing on the other side of it because now I’m here as a Premier League player. But, yeah, it’s been a mad 24 hours.”
You can say that again. By 10 p.m. on Friday, Robinson was functioning on about three hours of sleep as he patiently conducted half a dozen separate media interviews in the Algarve, where stadium stewards were waiting to lock the gates once he had finished.
The previous day the Aston Villa academy graduate had flown from Ireland to England for his medical, before catching an early-morning flight on Friday to arrive at Faro airport in time to meet his new teammates. With a peaked cap offering some cover, Robinson passed unnoticed through a horde of United supporters who would later roar their approval when he was introduced before kick-off at the Estadio Algarve.
Afterwards, he revealed that chats with John Egan and Enda Stevens during international breaks had put in mind that a move to Sheffield might suit him.
“Obviously I spoke before to Eegs and Enda Stevens,” said Robinson, who has signed a four-year contract with the Blades. “They was just saying about how good the club is and how good the lads are and stuff like that.
“And then obviously I knew that they were interested. I wasn’t ready to leave straightaway but I knew they was interested and then just got the call, packed my bags and made sure it happened.”
Given his age and his growing influence at international level, it was only natural that Robinson would consider moving to the Premier League this summer. He impressed for the Republic of Ireland in their win over Gibraltar in June, and he will now hope that the Blades’ upward trajectory continues on their return to England’s top flight after a 12-year absence.
Wilder’s side have earned two promotions in three seasons, and the LMA Manager of the Year for 2018/19 suggested that good Championship players with a point to prove – like Robinson – will have the talent and hunger required to thrive in the Premier League.
With that in mind, the pacy player who has won eight caps for Ireland agreed that watching the progress of Egan and Stevens has given him plenty of encouragement.
“I was at Villa with Enda and he’s pushed on massively,” Robinson said. “Eegs was really good at Brentford and I remember he was at Gillingham before. It’s obviously good to see them doing really well. They had an unbelievable season last season to come second [in the English Championship] so it just proves that it’s a real well-run club, and we’re only looking forward.
“Now we’re in the [Premier League] and I feel like we can all express ourselves and stay in the league. But we can still do well, and hopefully do better than what other people think.”
McGoldrick is another Ireland international to have profited from a move to United, and the club’s Player of the Year for the 2018/19 season – his first in Sheffield – pounced on an error to score the only goal against Betis.
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy was pleased to hear that Robinson will be joining the forward at Bramall Lane, but it’s not something that they had spoken about beforehand.
“No, I haven’t actually spoke to the gaffer about that, Mick McCarthy,” said Robinson, who scored against the Blades last season. “He just texted me today to say well done. He’s happy for me. He sees me around the Ireland camp and he wants, obviously, all the players in the top league.
“That’s the main thing because it’s only going to make us boys better. Obviously a few of the other lads have text in the group, and it’s just nice. Everyone really backs me to do well so I’m really happy.”
Robinson will have got little sleep last Friday either, since after being presented to the diehard support in Portugal he made his way back to his new home with the rest of the squad on Saturday morning. Looking forward to testing himself in the Premier League, Robinson knows that his latest move should help his chances of earning a regular starting berth for his country.
“Yeah definitely,” he said. “Obviously there’s Championship players in the Ireland set-up but I think if they know that you’re good enough, you play. And there’s that example with me – I’ve played in most of the games when I’m fit.
“It just proves that you don’t have to be in the Prem, but it does help because you’re playing against the top teams every week – and that’s where you want to be.”
He’s there now and – like Sheffield United in the Premier League – hopefully there to stay.
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