Josh Brownhill: Burnley sign Bristol City midfielder for £9m, with Nahki Wells moving in other direction
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Josh Brownhill has scored 16 goals in 145 league appearances for Bristol City
Burnley have signed midfielder Josh Brownhill from Championship side Bristol City on a four-and-a-half-year contract for around £9m.
City boss Lee Johnson was reluctant to lose his 24-year-old captain, who he brought to Ashton Gate in 2016 after working with him at Barnsley.
The former Manchester United youth team player started his professional career at Preston.
He scored 17 goals in 161 appearances in three-and-a-half seasons at Bristol.
"I've always wanted to get to the top," said Brownhill, whose new contract has the option for a further 12 months. "It's been mine and my family's goal ever since I played football as a kid."
Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol: "I felt like I was selling my son, if I'm honest.
"I'm very, very proud of Josh, signing him for the fee that we did, developing him in every element of his life - let alone his football game - and seeing him then flourish in to one of the best, if not the best, attacking midfelders or number eights in the Championship."
In a separate transfer, striker Nahki Wells has moved in the other direction joining on a three-and-a-half year contract, with Bristol paying in the region of £5m.
Wells, 29, joined the Clarets from Huddersfield for £5m in August 2017 but has never started a league game for them and spent the first half of this season and most of 2018-19 on loan at QPR.
He scored 15 goals in 29 appearances for the London club this campaign before being recalled earlier this week.
"Nahki is a player with so much talent and he is a proven goalscorer at this level," said Johnson. "I have spoken before of our ability to create a lot of chances and I think Nahki will help us in terms of that clinical edge which we have needed at times.
"I'm really looking forward to working with him and I think he will be a great fit in our squad, as we set our sights on a strong finish with 18 matches left."
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