Swindon Town enter talks to sign AFC Bournemouth player | OneFootball

Gavin Kilkenny could join the Robins this week

League Two side Swindon Town have opened talks to sign AFC Bournemouth midfielder Gavin Kilkenny on a season-long loan deal before the transfer window closes on Friday.

Football Insider have reported that the Robins want to sign the 24-year-old, with a place in Andoni Iraola's Premier League squad looking unlikely and the Cherries willing to let him move on in search of regular first-team football.

The same report claims that Swindon have moved quickly to discuss terms with Bournemouth, as they are hoping to beat off a number of EFL clubs in the race to sign the midfielder on loan for the coming season.

Kilkenny has featured sparingly for the Cherries since his first-team debut in 2019, while he has had three tough loan spells at Stoke City, Charlton Athletic and Fleetwood Town respectively in the last two seasons, and so is now looking for his next challenge in the fourth-tier.

After breaking through into Bournemouth's first-team squad as a highly-regarded 19-year-old in 2019, many would have expected Kilkenny to kick on and become a regular feature at the Vitality Stadium, but it has not quite gone as planned for him so far.

He made two EFL Cup appearances in his debut campaign with the senior side, while appearing on the bench in the Premier League numerous times, and then went on to feature in just four games in all competitions in 2020/21, despite the Cherries being back in the Championship after relegation.

His first successful campaign came in 2021/22, as he made 18 appearances in all competitions, with 13 starts in the Championship as Bournemouth won promotion back to the top-flight under Scott Parker, and he became an increasingly important player for the club.

Kilkenny was not trusted to make the step-up to the Premier League though, and joined Championship side Stoke City on loan for the season in July, but failed to make an impact in the Potteries and played four times before suffering a knee injury that kept him out of action for three months, as he was soon recalled in January to join Charlton Athletic for the second-half of the campaign.

The Republic of Ireland youth international struggled for game-time again with the Addicks though, and made just eight appearances in the third tier before returning to Bournemouth last summer.

He stayed with Iraola's side for the first six months of last season, but was restricted to only making the bench in the Premier League before he joined Fleetwood in the January window and found his feet in League One with a goal and two assists in 16 appearances, but was unable to help the Cods avoid relegation to the fourth tier.

Kilkenny would be a coup for Mark Kennedy

While his career has maybe not panned out as he would have liked so far, it is clear that Kilkenny is a talented player that just needs to find some form with a team where he is going to play week-in, week-out and be relied on to put in big performances, rather than being a bit-part.

The opportunity for Swindon to sign him represents a potential coup for Mark Kennedy's side, as the 24-year-old has never played in the fourth-tier, and could definitely get a League One move this week based off his performances for Fleetwood last season.

It seems like no coincidence that Kennedy is a former Republic of Ireland international, and he may think that the fact that Kilkenny is his compatriot will help in getting him to play some of his best football at the County Ground.

Swindon have endured a tough start to the 2024/25 campaign so far, with two draws and two losses in four outings in both league and cup meaning Kennedy will be looking to add some new faces to his squad before the deadline in the hope that his side can pull themselves up the table and improve on a 19th-placed finish last season.