“In the space of 10 days at the beginning of February, Tottenham Hotspur announced the future signing of Irish striker Mason Melia for a League of Ireland record fee of €1.9million (£1.6m; $2.1m), Michael Noonan of Shamrock Rovers scored the winner in the UEFA Conference League tie against Molde, Trent Kone-Doherty made his debut for Liverpool and Ike Orazi his debut for Reims in Ligue 1 in France.  Noonan is 16. Melia and Orazi are 17. Kone-Doherty is 18. Also in early February, Newcastle United announced they had signed Kyle Fitzgerald from Galway United days after he turned 18. Six months before Melia’s move to Tottenham, the same Premier League club signed George Feeney, then 16, from Irish League club Glentoran. That transfer came as Ceadach O’Neill, also 16, moved from Linfield to Arsenal and Braiden Graham — who in March 2023, at 15, became Linfield’s youngest-ever player — left for Everton. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic: Brexit denies Irish youngsters a clear path to English football – but they have new options
NY Times/The Athletic: Republic Of Ireland
W – League of Ireland