Linfield manager David Healy admits his side have been closely monitoring Isaac Baird “for a number of years” and feels the midfielder can take his game to another level after joining the Blues for an undisclosed fee from Glenavon.

It was revealed on Saturday that Baird, who also previously spent time on the books of Portadown, had “reluctantly” been made available for transfer by the Lurgan Blues.

He amassed almost 100 Premiership appearances at Mourneview Park and recovered from spending a year on the sidelines after sustaining a serious knee injury.

The 20-year-old has now signed a two-year contract at Windsor Park and Healy says Baird is a player that has impressed him over the years.

placeholder image — New Linfield recruit Isaac Baird. (Photo by Linfield FC)

“Isaac is a player who has impressed us whenever we’ve faced him over the past couple of seasons,” he said. “We have had our eye on Isaac for a number of years now and at just 20 years old, he already has significant Premiership experience and we believe he has huge potential to develop further here at Linfield.

“I’m delighted to welcome him to the club. Thanks go again to our Head of Recruitment Willie McKeown for his work on making the transfer happen.”

Baird hadn’t featured for Glenavon’s senior side since February after suffering a hamstring injury, but scored for their reserve team earlier this month in a 9-1 win over Carrick Rangers.

The County Armagh club made it clear they wanted to retain his services, but Baird admits it has always been his ambition to play for Linfield.

“It feels brilliant to sign for the biggest team in the country,” he said. “The next step in my career is to come to Linfield and fight for my place, trophies and success.

"At Glenavon I played with a lot of ex-Linfield players who spoke so highly of the club and told me how good it is here. That always really sold it to me, I’ve always wanted to play for Linfield.”

Glenavon boss Paddy McLaughlin was asked about Baird’s situation during his post-match interview on the club’s media channel on Saturday and confirmed “disappointingly he’s informed the club that he doesn’t want to represent us no more”.

McLaughlin added: "Which is sad to hear any player telling you that...really disappointed because we’ve worked so hard with him over the last 18 months.

"He’s had a nightmare injury spell with his cruciate and then the hamstring injury.

"We’ve worked extremely hard behind the scenes with Isaac and we give him all the support that he needed and the backing.

"We actually improved his contract when he was injured and we were all geared for him coming back into the team and back into the fold.”

McLaughlin described the situation as “sad, disappointing and frustrating” and “he leaves us with no option to leave him out until he finds himself a club, which apparently is a done deal”.

When asked to confirm if Baird is available for transfer, the Glenavon boss replied: "On his own doing, unfortunately, Isaac has said he doesn’t want to represent us so he’s available for transfer.”