Glentoran announce signing of striker Danny Purkis

Glentoran have announced the signing of striker Danny Purkis.

The 27-year-old was Glenavon's top scorer in 2020/21 but left the club last October to rejoin East Belfast, citing family reasons for his decision to return to Amateur League football.

It was reported that Purkis signed an agreement not to feature for any other Irish Premiership side until 2024, which is when his professional contract with Glenavon was due to expire.

Now Purkis is preparing for a top flight return with former club Glentoran, who he started his career with.

Mick McDermott has bolstered his attacking options after confirming that Robbie McDaid is set to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this month.

https://twitter.com/Glentoran/status/1540779409224830976

McDaid is expected to join Big Two rivals Linfield this summer.

The Glens have bagged a goalscorer in Purkis, who scored more than 150 goals in just two-and-a-half seasons for East Belfast before departing for Glenavon in late December 2019.

By the time he left for Lurgan, Purkis had already bagged a remarkable 46 goals in just five months of football.

Purkis finished the 2020/21 season as Glenavon's leading goalscorer on 15 goals, but it became apparent last summer that the striker was edging towards a return to East Belfast.

Glenavon managed to convince Purkis to stay, with the prolific forward signing a new three-year contract last summer.

Speaking at the time, Purkis explained the reasons for leaving Glenavon. He said: “I just didn’t have the time going up and down the road.

"I’m not getting finished as early as I used to, and I’ve got my two kids there. They are still young and you miss out on a lot of them growing up, and they only grow up once, they don’t stay young