Mat Ryan has been a consistent presence in goal for Brighton & Hove Albion as they've established themselves in the Premier League under Chris Hughton and now Graham Potter.
But, according to Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, the Australian international was on the radar of Bristol City in the summer of 2017 when he swapped Belgium for England.
In an interview with Socceroos.com, Tyler reveals he was asked by City's "head of recruitment" (presumably either CEO Mark Ashton or former chief scout Mervyn Day) to glean the opinions of Gary and Phil Neville on Ryan and whether he'd be suitable for the English game.
The Nevilles were manager and coach of Valencia at the time, Ryan's parent club as he spent the 2016/17 campaign on loan at Belgian club Genk.
"I know Bristol City's chief recruitment officer and I got a text saying, 'can you find out from the Nevilles whether they rate Mat Ryan'," Tyler said.
"It wasn't my opinion they were looking for - quite rightly - it was Gary and Phil's. I was able to do that and both Gary and Phil gave Mat the thumbs up.
"The move to Bristol City didn't happen but the move to Brighton did. He's done really well, been an ever-present and made some remarkable saves."
Brighton ended up breaking their transfer record to sign Ryan for a fee in the region of £5m and the 28-year-old has made 108 appearances over three Premier League seasons.
In that particular transfer window, City ended up bringing in Luke Steele on a free transfer from Panathinaikos to compete with No1 Frank Fielding, but the former Manchester United prospect only made five league appearances and was released at the end of the season.
