Some of the biggest names in Irish football have been heavily linked with moves this month. The Shane Long rumours that cropped up a couple of weeks ago had, at one point, looked like they may actually develop to the extent that seeing the Tipperary man leading the line for Liverpool was a distinct possibility.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you listen to, that's not going to happen and Long will be sticking around at Southampton ahead of Euro 2016. No bad thing provided Charlie Austin's arrival doesn't upset the applecart more than it should.
Aside from Long, Aiden McGeady and Darron Gibson are set to leave Everton with Euro 2016 very much in mind. However, when/if they do leave Goodison Park it will only be on loan so if we're looking for the most expensive Irish deal this January, it had looked like it may all fall on Alan Judge.
The Championship's standout performer is wanted by Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday but the bids so far have fallen well short of Brentford's valuation. With the window closing on Monday, it would appear that Brentford will be able to hold on to Judge for another six months at least meaning that the most expensive Irish deal in this transfer window will fall on the somewhat unlikely shoulders of Joe Mason.
The Plymouth native with a Mayo mammy has been unfortunate so far in his career that he's been unable to break into the Irish senior setup having impressed for Cardiff and Bolton over the past couple of years. Mason has represented Ireland at u21 level and now, following a disjointed spell in south Wales he's set to make a £3.5 million move to Wolves with the club confirming that a deal was very close to being completed.
Wolves can confirm they are in advanced discussions with Cardiff City after making a significant bid for striker Joe Mason.
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 27, 2016
Cardiff, who had suggested they wanted somewhere in the region of £6 million for the attacker, were also involved in the most expensive Irish deal of last season's January transfer window when they signed Eoin Doyle from Chesterfield.
Given that the likes of Simon Cox have been preferred to Mason in Martin O'Neill's extended preliminary squads throughout his tenure as manager, it would appear that the 24 year old would need to do an awful lot at Molyneaux if he's to force his way into O'Neill's reckoning any time soon.
