All three of Leeds United, Nottingham Forest an Fulham were credited with an interest in the Bristol City winger earlier this year.
Callum O’Dowda has claimed he always wanted to re-sign for Bristol City, despite being linked with clubs such as Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Fulham, as reported by The Bristol Post.
All three of Leeds, Forest and Fulham were credited with an interest in O’Dowda earlier this year, with Sky Sports reporting that the latter were in talks to sign him in August.
The broadcaster claimed it would have taken a fee in excess of £8 million to prise the winger from Bristol City, where he had entered the final year of his contract.
In the meantime, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Fulham all managed to find alternatives in O’Dowda’s position.
But speaking to The Bristol Post this week, the Irishman insisted that his decision to commit to City until at least 2022 was not down to diminishing options.
“Listen, the fans don’t hear that from me. I’m not going to openly just say but there’s always interest,” explained O’Dowda.
“I was coming to the last year of my contract and there was always going to be teams left, right and centre [interested in him] but if I’m brutally honest I always wanted to sign [with Bristol City].
“I just wanted to make sure it was right for me and the club at the same time. The message to the fans is – and I even said it to fans after games: I just wanted it to get sorted. I just wanted to make sure it got sorted right.”
O’Dowda sat out Bristol City’s final 10 games of last season, an absence many presumed to be contract related.
But the Irishman added: “Frozen out? It wasn’t. I remember I had my LCL [knee ligament] injury and if I’m being honest even when I came back I wasn’t fully fit. Because I missed eight weeks out.
“I did declare myself as half fit-ish. I remember just having an open dialogue with the gaffer [Lee Johnson] – I said I’m fit but I haven’t got the minutes in me and I haven’t got the sharpness because I was out for a good 8-10 weeks.”
Fans of Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Fulham – would O’Dowda have been a good signing for you?
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