Who is Newcastle’s new Irishman Rory Finneran?
Ireland under-17 captain Rory Finneran has signed a long-term deal with Newcastle United.
The promising midfielder leaves Blackburn Rovers to continue his development in the Magpies’ academy alongside the likes of Cathal Heffernan, Reece Byrne and Alex Murphy.
Finneran became Blackburnโs youngest ever player last January when he made his debut against Cambridge United aged just fifteen years and 312 days old.
That stat alone is revealing. Only the finest prospects in the UK tend to make first team appearances before their eighteenth birthday, let alone their sixteenth.
With his impressive Ireland under-16 and under-17 performances also factored into the equation, evidence suggests that Ireland could finally have a high-potential midfielder coming through the ranks.
Ireland won the under-16s Victory Shield last winter, winning three games out of three against Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Paul Osman’s side scored seven goals across the three matches and Finneran’s creativity in the middle of the park was an essential ingredient in their success.
The Ireland under-17s also impressed last year by reaching the Euros knockout stages before losing to Lamine Yamal’s Spain.
But Finneran – who wasn’t involved in that squad – could shoot up the Irish age-grades faster than the best players from that group, we’re talking the likes of Ike Orazi, Naj Razi and even Mason Melia.
Rory Finneran potential.
All signs are encouraging but to find out more we got in touch with Blackburn Rovers journalist Elliot Jackson.
Elliot says that Blackburn tried their best to keep Finneran by showing him a clear path recently walked by England international Adam Wharton, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to retain one of their most talented teenagers of recent times.
” He was very highly rated,” he told Ireland Radar.
“Rovers gave him his debut in January, making him the club’s youngest-ever player.
“He’s been at Rovers since the age of eight and has often played above his year group both for club and at international level.
“He’s also captain of the Ireland Under-17s which shows he’s held in high esteem outside of Ewood Park too.”
To gauge an understanding of where Finneran stands on his development journey, Ireland Radar asked the Lancashire Telegraph reporter whether he might have featured in the Championship this season, despite his young age.
“I doubt it. He might’ve been on the fringes but remember he’s only sixteen.
“But Rovers had shown him a clear pathway to the first team and with the recent example of Adam Wharton, he could’ve worked his way in.
“He’d just started playing for the Under-21s but a good pre-season and who knows what might have happened.”
“Rovers made a really big play to keep him. Part of that was him featuring for the first team in January as I mentioned.
“But he rejected the scholarship offer to move to Newcastle, which is a shame, but part and parcel of modern-day football.”
The new season will likely see Finneran playing for a Newcastle PL2 team including the aforementioned Cathal Heffernan, Alex Murphy and Reece Byrne.
Murphy made his Premier League debut last season, coming on in defence as Newcastle thumped Chelsea 4-1.
The former Galway left-back has captained the Newcastle unde-21s from the centre of defence and will be pushing for first team minutes in the first half of the season, with a January loan away from St James’ Park the most likely outcome.
The same could be true for Cork City product Cathal Heffernan. Heffernan made his first team debut for Eddie Howe’s side earlier this week but will have to wait for competitive minutes.
He featured sixteen times for Newcastle’s under-21s in the PL2 competition last season, and made a further six appearances in the UEFA Youth League where he scored one goal.
While former Bohemians academy member Reece Byrne will be looking to get more chances between the sticks in the new season.
He missed a lot of last season through injury and ended up making only two appearances for the Newcastle under-21s.
Another one to watch is Kyle Fitzgerald. Reports from this weekend suggest that the Galway United wideman is about to sign a deal with the Premier League club after a succcesful trial.
It is believed that Wolves and Brighton were also interested in the tricky left winger but indications are that he will be a Newcastle player once he turns eighteen in January.
Ireland Radar 