BRISTOL City have swooped to sign Derry City defender, Patrick McClean after having an improved offer for the youngster accepted by the Brandywell club. The English Championship club had offered what was labelled a ‘derisory’ amount for the talented 18 year-old last month which was rejected by the ‘Candy Stripes’. However, it’s understood the Robins’ latest bid, understood to be in the region of £20,000, has now been accepted by the Lone Moor Road club and the player has since agreed personal terms. Patrick is the younger brother of West Brom and Republic of Ireland winger, James McClean and he spent a short trial with Bristol last April. Bristol view McClean as a player for the future and he is likely to join the Championship club’s under-21 development squad when he joins up with the club this weekend. The ‘Robins’ have forged strong links with Derry and manager Peter Hutton visited Ashton Gate to see the club’s Academy and under-21 development structures for himself earlier this year. http://www.derryjournal.com/sport/f...ign-patrick-mcclean-from-derry-city-1-6850997
Do I remember about 8 years ago that we signed a pair of Irish youngsters who were given a good write-up upon arriving but seemed to disappear off the radar very quickly. Hope his future is more advantageous to us than the last time but never say never EH.
We've signed numerous talented youngsters, and very few of them ever make an impact on our first-team. Given that clubs across England tend to scout the Irish leagues, I wonder if this kid would even accept us? Our record speaks for itself, and he's probably better off sticking where he is, and if he's good enough a Championship or Premier League team will probably come knocking for him.
Keohane and Hoban? Pretty sure they signed under Coppell, which was exciting at the time given his record with transfers. As we all know, that ended well...
He's tweeted about his transfer, so I'm guessing it's a done deal. The official site is barely updated, so I doubt they'll bother updating for a U21 player.
