{"id":241396,"date":"2026-05-02T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T00:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/aussie-excitement-machine-linked-with-record-32-5m-pl-move-as-euro-clubs-circle-rising-star\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T00:20:00","slug":"aussie-excitement-machine-linked-with-record-32-5m-pl-move-as-euro-clubs-circle-rising-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/aussie-excitement-machine-linked-with-record-32-5m-pl-move-as-euro-clubs-circle-rising-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie excitement machine linked with record $32.5m PL move as Euro clubs circle rising star"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Australia\u2019s Nestory Irankunda may be off to the English Premier League next season after catching the eye of multiple clubs with his impressive form for Watford in the Championship.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old forward, who is set to play a key role for the Socceroos at this year\u2019s World Cup, has been linked with a move to either Everton or Crystal Palace with both clubs reportedly keeping a close eye on the skillful speedster.<\/p>\n

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While Italian club Fiorentina are reportedly interested in bringing Irankunda to Serie A, according to football transfer specialist Ekrem Konur of UK outlet Sports Boom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Irankunda could also return to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen having \u201cinitiated a scouting process\u201d for the Australian.<\/p>\n

The Adelaide United product departed Australia two years ago when he was purchased by Bayern Munich for an A-League transfer record fee of approximately $5.8 million.<\/p>\n

After developing in Bayern\u2019s reserves and going out on loan to Swiss side Grasshopper, Irankunda joined Watford at the beginning of this season for $5.3m.<\/p>\n

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Nestory Irankunda of Watford in action during the Sky Bet Championship match between Watford and Sheffield United at Vicarage Road.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Irankunda scores & Toure notches assists | 00:55<\/p>\n

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The Hornets may be farewelling Irankunda just one year into the five-year deal he signed in July, however.<\/p>\n

Watford are reportedly open to negotiations for a fee of around \u20ac20m ($32.5m).<\/p>\n

Watford will no doubt be looking for as high of a number as possible because Bayern will take 50% of what Irankunda is sold for due to a sell-on clause included in the deal that took him to England.<\/p>\n

If that number is met, it would make Irankunda the most expensive Australian footballer ever, surpassing defender Harry Souttar\u2019s \u20ac15m (A$24.4m) move to Leicester City three years ago.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n

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Nestory Irankunda of Australia celebrates scoring a goal during the FIFA Series match between Australia Socceroos and Curacao at AAMI Park.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Irankunda has scored four goals and provided five assists in his first season in the English second tier.<\/p>\n

But it is the manner in which he has scored his goals that have been most impressive.<\/p>\n

Irankunda made himself an instant fan favourite at Vicarage Road with two stunning long-range free kick goals early in the season.<\/p>\n

While he also won the club\u2019s goal of the month award for April with a blistering run and excellent finish against Charlton Athletic.<\/p>\n

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Nestory Irankunda of Australia poses with fans following the FIFA Series match between Australia Socceroos and Curacao at AAMI Park.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Irankunda has also been shining in national colours.<\/p>\n

He scored a brace against Curacao in the Socceroos\u2019 World Cup farewell game in Melbourne and proved himself to be a showman with a Michael Jackson dance celebration that he has taken with him to England.<\/p>\n

Irankunda has scored five goals in 13 international appearances and can further his status as a star on the rise at the World Cup where he and fellow Championship sensation Mohamed Toure are set to form an exciting attacking partnership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s Nestory Irankunda may be off to the English Premier League next season after catching the eye of multiple clubs with his impressive form for Watford in the Championship. The 20-year-old forward, who is set to play a key role for the Socceroos at this year\u2019s World Cup, has been linked with a move to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":241397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[3894,1800,72531,83,1736,10507,4394,548,2064,72530,72532,85,1429,72528,68860,149,72533,4232,1425,4925,72529,10977,20057,70344,1433,862,71519,64997,16809,64630,40255,1533,1809,1427,71758,1728,854,17564,2268,14109,6921,65000,34655,1465,6739,3150],"class_list":{"0":"post-241396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-adelaide-united","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-aussie-excitement-machine","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-footballer","14":"tag-bayer-04-leverkusen","15":"tag-bayern-munich","16":"tag-canada","17":"tag-dance-celebration","18":"tag-ekrem-konur","19":"tag-england","20":"tag-europe","21":"tag-fee-record","22":"tag-fifa-series","23":"tag-football-news","24":"tag-football-transfer-specialist","25":"tag-germany","26":"tag-getty-images-inc","27":"tag-impressive-form","28":"tag-instant-fan","29":"tag-international-friendly","30":"tag-italian-club","31":"tag-kick-goals","32":"tag-lega-calcio-serie-a","33":"tag-melbourne","34":"tag-michael-jackson","35":"tag-minas-panagiotakis","36":"tag-mohamed-toure","37":"tag-montreal","38":"tag-multiple-clubs","39":"tag-north-america","40":"tag-northern-america","41":"tag-northern-europe","42":"tag-notches-assistsfootball","43":"tag-oceania","44":"tag-premier-league","45":"tag-quebec","46":"tag-rising-star","47":"tag-scouting-process","48":"tag-sheffield-united-football-club","49":"tag-stade-saputo","50":"tag-swiss-side","51":"tag-victoria","52":"tag-watford-football-club","53":"tag-western-europe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}