Tyreeq Bakinson is looking forward to working with Darren Moore as he aims to find a new home at Sheffield Wednesday, ending an uncomfortable seven months for the midfielder at Bristol City.
Bakinson has signed on a permanent deal at Hillsborough - Wednesday don’t disclose contract lengths - having been exiled to train with the Under-23s by City manager Nigel Pearson this summer.
That was after Pearson’s very clear and public criticism of his attitude in January when, les than two months after City agreed to extend the midfielder’s contract by an additional loan, he joined Ipswich Town on loan.
With no prospects of first-team football in BS3 this season, moving Bakinson on was a major transfer goal for Pearson but also the 23-year-old wanted the move as his opportunities in the West Country were non-existent.
Bakinson ends his five-year stay at City, after signing from Luton Town as a teenager, but is now looking to put down fresh roots in Sheffield and under Moore, a manager he no doubts hopes he can have a stronger relationship with.
"I want to play some football and that obviously wasn't happening where I was so it is really great to get this deal done and over the line," said Bakinson. “The manager is a really good guy from what I saw when I met him, he told me the plans for the season and seemed very determined to get it done. It was definitely a big part of me wanting to come here.”
City fans may chuckle at Bakinson’s assertion that, “it is good for any player to have to battle to get in the team,” given one of Pearson's reasons for sanctioning his departure at the start of the year was down to a sense of entitlement regarding his position in the starting XI.
He has joined a team not short of central midfield options with Will Vaulks, Barry Bannan, George Byers, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Dennis Adeniran among his competition, but is part of a side with designs and expectations on securing automatic promotion and passage into the Championship.
He does have history with Wednesday, playing against them three times for City, including in April 2021 when he struck a late equaliser at Hillsborough to force a 1-1 draw for the Robins and confirm the Owls relegation to League One. Fifteen months later and Bakinson is among eight new players looking to get them back up a division.
“Most players want to find a home where they can play in front of loads of fans and play the right type of football and that is what is possible here,” Bakinson added. “It has always been a great atmosphere. It is not as good as if you’re playing against them, hopefully it’ll be much better now with the fans on my side.”
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