Jason Knight set to make Championship return as Bristol City swoop in

This is a big opportunity for Knight.

Jason Knight is set to make his Championship return as the Ireland star is set to complete his medical at Bristol City and all for a surprisingly low sum. The Irishman is close to leaving Derby County for just £2million, which is as cheap as chips in today's crazy market of international footballers. As Derby were doomed to another year of League One football, they knew that they wouldn't be able to hang onto the Ireland midfielder for another year as he wants to progress up the footballing ladder. At only 22-years-old, playing in the lower leagues will have done the young Dubliner no harm, and it's clear to see in some of his performances for Ireland, that there is a real talent here. Despite the relatively low transfer fee, the pressure is still on Knight to live up to the high expectations that Irish fans and indeed, the Ireland manager have of him. Stephen Kenny had predicted that his midfielder would be moving to a higher division, when speaking before the international break in June.

“A lot of clubs want to buy Jason which will be good for him to get back to playing at a level higher than League One, Derby has been great for him, he's played a high amount of games for them for someone so young, but he's at that stage where he probably needs to go and play at a higher level to go and kick on.”

That opportunity has come knocking, and in fairness, few players his age can say that they have represented their country 20 times, so performing under pressure and under high expectations won't be anything new to him.   With Matt Doherty looking like he's returning to the Premier League, and Chiedozie Ogbene already making the jump following his transfer to Luton Town, the Republic of Ireland squad are beginning to rise through the ranks at club level. Kenny will be hoping that this will have a knock on effect for Ireland, with stars like Evan Ferguson already showing that he is ready for that level. When you think back to the old Irish teams who made it to international tournaments, you think of a midfield that boasted high-level players like Damien Duff, Matt Holland, Andy Reid, Glen Whelan, Kevin Kilbane, and of course, Roy Keane. Knight won't be hiding his ambitions of getting to the top table of English football as he hopes to help Bristol City achieve promotion, but he will need to cut it at the Championship first and prove his worth. Related links:

• Premier League' Luton Town sign Ireland star Chiedozie Ogbene
• Matt Doherty linked with a return to Wolves and it makes perfect sense
• Hull City make final transfer decision on Ireland's Aaron Connolly