Manager Brian Barry-Murphy on Gavin Bazunu, who has joined Dale on a season-long loan from Manchester City…
“I’ve been very aware of Gavin since he first came on the scene back in Ireland as a 16-year-old. He blew us all away with his ability from that early age,” said Barry-Murphy.
“If I’m being honest, I never thought we’d get the chance to acquire him at our Club, but when I mentioned [in my last interview] about trying to be creative and adding to the squad with extremely talented players, then this is what I had I mind.
“There’s huge gratitude to Manchester City for allowing us to have Gavin at our Club to continue his development, which is going to be so exciting for everybody to see.”
He continued: “The guy is an extraordinary young man and he is extremely talented. The most significant thing for me is that if you were to look around League One previously, Manchester City don’t tend to loan their players into that environment, so that’s testament to the work that the staff and players have done here to make us so attractive for them. That’s very, very exciting for us all, and I think our supporters will be very excited by what they see from Gavin.
“He’s a very young player but because he’s that age, it works for both parties. If he was two or three years down the line, then quite simply he wouldn’t be in a position where he could come here. He’s destined for great things and we’re very pleased to have him at our Club for this period.
“We feel as if we’re always progressing and pushing and I feel that my duty to the group is to always take it to the next level. I always have in mind that we want to excite the players, the supporters and everybody, really. Whenever we’re bringing somebody in, that’s the first thought. With this piece of recruitment, I think that’ll be the case.”