Conor McMenamin started the summer transfer window with an Irish League return to Coleraine but will sensationally end it with a return to Glentoran – just 10 weeks after his move home from Scotland.

The 31-year-old will complete his switch to the Glens before Tuesday’s close of the transfer window in a deal understood to involve a player swap plus cash between Glentoran and current Premiership leaders Coleraine.

McMenamin originally left Glentoran in 2023 and enjoyed a successful period in Scotland that included trophy success with St Mirren.

His June return to domestic football for the Downpatrick-based playmaker was heralded as a major coup for title-chasing Coleraine but McMenamin has been unable to establish his place in the Bannsiders’ starting line-up across a strong start by the league favourites with three wins and a draw.

placeholder image — Conor McMenamin celebrating a goal for Glentoran in 2022. The 31-year-old is expected to complete a shock transfer to Glentoran from Coleraine before the close of the summer transfer window on September 1, just 10 weeks after returning to the Irish League from Scotland. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

McMenamin – capped 14 times by Northern Ireland from 2022 to 2024 – has been listed on the substitutes’ bench for every Premiership fixture to date, making appearances across the second half in three.

Although both Coleraine and Glentoran declined to comment when approached by the News Letter over the imminent transfer, sources close to the deal have indicated the move is now viewed as beneficial to all parties considering the early-season situation since McMenamin’s return to Northern Ireland.

McMenamin was an unused substitute on the opening day of the league season in a 3-1 win over Dungannon Swifts.

He then stepped off the sidelines in three successive games on 73, 46 and 80 minutes respectively against Larne, Carrick Rangers and Portadown.

When asked about McMenamin after the Swifts game, Coleraine boss Ruaidhri Higgins told media: "Conor is fully fit...I pick the team based on what I see and that’s the answer to that one.”

One significant addition Coleraine are pushing to finalise before the close of the transfer window is a deal for Crusaders’ Adam Brooks.

It is understood a transfer involving the Scotland-born forward would break the current Irish League record fee of £100,000 set around moves by Lee Bonis (Portadown to Larne) and Shay McCartan (Ballymena United to Glentoran).