Josh Daniels seals dream switch from Glenavon to Shrewsbury Town

Glenavon accepted a bid from the Shropshire side on Friday and Daniels flew to New Meadow to complete his medical today, where he joined up with his new team-mates.

The 24-year-old former Derry City winger revealed he was on the verge of agreeing terms with Irish Cup winners Glentoran before Shrewsbury came in with an offer at the final hour. Daniels had also been attracting interest from Linfield and Larne as well as several League of Ireland clubs after declaring his intention to play full-time football but he insists the move to Shrewsbury was “too good an opportunity to turn down”.

“For me it was a massive surprise and obviously an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” said Daniels. “I’m over here now and I’m going to give it my best shot and you never know what will happen.

“I went in this morning and did my medical at the training ground and obviously everything went okay, I went out and got to meet the lads and did a few tests.

“Shrewsbury have done all their due diligence and have been watching videos of me play and they were keen to get the deal done.

“They’ve said they’ve done all their homework on me and it’s a fantastic challenge for me.

“I was close to joining Glentoran and held talks with Larne on Friday but once Shrewsbury came in it was too good an opportunity to turn down.”

And Daniels stressed how grateful he was to Lurgan Blues boss Gary Hamilton and chairman Adrian Teer for facilitating the move.

“This is what I wanted and I would just like to thank Gary and Adrian for everything they’ve done for me,” he said. “They phoned me to tell me they had accepted a bid but I’m absolutely buzzing, And at least it’s a bit of payback for Glenavon as I won’t be playing for a rival club now.

“They’ve done so much for me since I left Derry City and they gave me the platform to go on and prove myself.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better from them, I needed to leave Derry and get games and I got games at Glenavon.

“I left Derry with a year-and-a-half left on my contract but I just needed to go away and play games, I got that and finally it’s paid off, Glenavon gave me a platform to go and do it and I’m grateful for that.

“There’s a few boys from the Irish League and particularly from Glenavon who have moved on to League One and they’re doing well so I’m excited and can’t wait to get started, I think it’s worked out perfectly for me.”

The talented winger has had trials with Manchester United and Everton in the recent past but he believes the timing is perfect now as he arrives in Shrewsbury mentally ready for the challenge.

“I have a wife-to-be and a two-year-old daughter so I feel I’ve matured now,” he said. “If it happened four years ago it might not have been the right time for me with moving and relocating.

“So it’s all fallen into place for me now and it’s all happening very fast.

“I’m out viewing houses this week already so it’s all come around very quickly, they have been sending me through information about houses and areas to live and they’ve been excellent in that regard.

“I’m delighted I’ve probably skipped a few levels to make it to Shrewsbury and I’m just trying to chase it now, I wanted to go full-time and I’m prepared to make the sacrifices.

“I’ll be going to England and hopefully the league will suit me, technically I think it won’t be a problem.

“I’m delighted to get it over the line, it’s just a massive career booster and I’m really excited to get going.”

Shrewsbury Town boss Sam Ricketts has assured him he will be given time to get up to speed in terms of fitness and made him “feel wanted”.

“He’s been in contact with me and I was talking to him today again,” said Daniels. “He knows I’m coming from a part-time league.

“He’s done his research and watched videos on me, they know what they’re getting.

“They went and bought me, it would be different if I was pushed here...so I feel wanted.

“He told me he doesn’t expect me to be flying in the fitness tests straight away and they will build me up.

“He told me there’s no pressure, ‘just play your own game and I’ve no doubts you will get on very well here’.

“I’m just itching to get started now.”