The best Irish football prospects around.
Tomorrow marks the start of 2025 and while we are still waiting for our so-called golden generation to click into top gear, we can still take comfort in knowing another generation of ballers are on their way.
Heimir’s Hounds are making forward strides but some lively reinforcements from the underage ranks in the upcoming campaigns would go a hell of a long way towards building towards better things.
A healthy under-21s campaign from Jim Crawford’s side in 2024 means that a handful of those players are retained in our list for this year but there are also some fresh faces set to excite Irish fans very very soon.
Without further adieu, here, friends, are eleven players who could feature for Ireland at the recently announced Saudi Arabia World Cup in 2034.
Criteria for selection is 21 or under and not a current Ireland senior international. The formation used is a classic 4-3-3.
Goalkeeper: Josh Keeley
Club: Tottenham Hotspur (on loan at Leyton Orient)
Age:21
Josh just about fits into our criteria as he turns 22 in May next year. The Ireland u21 international was number one for the majority of the last campaign under Jim Crawford, after he was harshly dropped for the final two games against Norway and Italy in favour of Tiernan Brooks.
Despite this, Keeley was very impressive during the campaign and played a key role in Ireland reaching 19 points, the highest total of any third placed side. The former St Pat’s man joined League One Leyton Orient at the start of this season but took a couple of months to establish himself as number one, making his league debut in October. At the time of writing he has kept seven consecutive clean-sheets which is a Leyton Orient record.
Honourable mention: Noah Jauny (Stade Brestois, 20)
Right Back: Sam Curtis Sheffield United
Club: Sheffield United (on loan at Peterborough United)
Age:19
Our second former Pat’s and Dunboyne man, Curtis started and played every minute bar two games in the most recent under-21 qualifying campaign. By far our standout choice in this position, Curtis is still eligible for the next 21’s campaign but could very easily be fast tracked into the senior team over the next year.
The 2022/23 FAI Cup winner has made 17 appearances for the Posh this season (15 in the league), playing at right full in a 4-2-3-1 shape. His side sit 13th in League One, seven points off the playoffs.
Honourable mention: Kaylem Harnett (Wexford Youths, 17)
Right Centre Half: Cathal Heffernan
Club: Newcastle United
Age: 19
The Newcastle United under-21 captain made waves when he made the luxurious move to AC Milan a couple of years ago and remains one of our best prospects at right centre half. Heffernan has made 12 appearances across the Premier Leage 2 and EFL trophy this season and also starred for the Magpies u18 team in the UEFA Youth League last season, captaining his side in all six games, scoring in a 3-1 win over his former club AC Milan and also starring in a 2-1 victory over PSG.
Now aged 19, Next on the agenda for the Cork man must be first team senior football. A loan move in January or the summer would be ideal.
Honourable mention: James Abankwah (Udinese, 20)
Left Centre Half: Anselmo Garcia McNulty
Club: PEC Zwolle
Age: 21
Another member of the last u21 campaign in what was his last at the age group, Anselmo moved to Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle on a free transfer after a successful loan spell at fellow Dutch side NAC Breda. The Seville born centre half has remarkably played every minute for Zwolle so far this season, racking up 17 appearances as his side sit 13th.
Having come up through the Real Betis academy before moving to Wolfsburg, McNulty has been long talked about as a future senior international and given his consistent playing time in Netherlands he could make that step up very soon for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side.
Honourable mention: Freddie Turley (Derby, 18)
Left back: Sean Roughan
Club: Lincoln City
Age:21
Its five from five in this year’s team when compared to the last, but again there was no choice to pick Roughan given his ridiculous level of experience in first team football in League One. The Dubliner has made 120 appearances for Lincoln since breaking into the team as a starter in 2022, scoring five goals and registering eight assists.
Roughan has played every minute of football this season outside the EFL Cup, making 24 appearances, 20 of those at left centre back due to Lincoln playing a three back system. The natural left back will most likely have to get a move up a level to receive a senior call up, but there will no doubt be interest in him if Lincoln fail to go up this season.
Honourable Mention: Alex Murphy (Newcastle United) Age:20
Defensive midfield: Jacob Devaney
Club: Manchester United
Age: 17
The first player to have not featured in last years team, Jacob Devaney is one of the best prospects in his generation at United. The Barnsley native qualifies to play for Ireland through his grandad and has trained with United’s first team already.
The holding midfielder, who can also play as an eight and at right back, has seven caps for Ireland at u19 level and starred in their friendly against France in May. This season, Devaney has played five times in both the u18 Premier League and the Premier League 2 along with featuring for the club four times in the UEFA Youth League.
Honourable mention: Rory Finneran (Newcastle United, 16)
Centre Midfield: Romeo Akachukwu
Club: Southampton
Age: 18
The first player named in this eleven from the Ireland u17 side who reached the last eight of the Euros in 2023, Romeo Akachukwu has enjoyed a positive opening few months at Southampton since moving from Waterford in August.
The teenager has made eight appearances for the club’s u21 side in the Premier League 2, scoring once and he has already made his senior debut for the club, coming off the bench in their 5-3 Carabao Cup second round win over Cardiff City. Akachukwu has 15 caps at u19 level for his country along with 14 at u17 level.
Honourable mention: Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh (Southampton, 19)
Attacking Midfield: Aaron Ochoa Maloney
Club: Malaga
Age:17
Another current Ireland u19 international, Aaron is perhaps one of the most exciting names on this list, in terms of his talent and his fantastic surname. The second Spanish born player on this list, Maloney was born in Marbella and is Malaga’s youngest ever player to play for their first team.
The teenager has already made 24 appearances for his boyhood club, 14 of those coming this season including six starts. Malaga currently sit 14th in the Spanish second tier.
Honourable Mention: Naj Razi (Como, 18).
Right Wing: Jaden Umeh
Club: Benfica
Age:16
This was a difficult choice given our relatively strong number of options in this position, such as Rocco Vata and Cathal O’Sulivan. Jaden Umeh gets in simply because of the tremendous environment which will surround him in the coming years. Benfica are one of if not the best club in Europe at churning out exceptional talent from their academy, developing them and selling them on for significant fees.
Brother of Crystal Palace winger Franco, Jaden made the move to Portugal in August after making 15 appearances for Cork City in the First Division, scoring twice and registering as many assists. Umeh is a current Ireland u17 international.
Honourable mention: Rocco Vata (Watford, 19)
Left Wing: Trent Kone Doherty
Club: Liverpool
Age: 18
Another double barrel name and another exceptional talent, Trent Kone-Doherty is a dynamic winger part of a very good Liverpool 2006 generation. Doherty made the move from his native Derry City to Merseyside in 2022 and has starred for their u18 side since. The Ireland u19 international has perhaps enjoyed the best development path out of all the players on this list, featuring in two separate UEFA Youth League campaign where he has registering six goal contributions in 11 games.
After excelling for the u18’s last season, the Derry man has featured prominently for Liverpool’s u21 team this season, making nine appearances and scoring two goals and registering one assist.
Honourable mention: Ike Orazi (Stade de Reims, 17)
Striker: Mason Melia
Club: St Patrick’s Athletic
Age: 17
The starlet of the League of Ireland currently, Melia has been subject to million-pound bids from Bologna and Hannover according to reports, but Tottenham remain determined to land the Wicklow man. The St Pats man has already made 54 senior appearances for the club, scoring 10 times and providing three assists.
Jim Crawford named him in his under-21 squad for the final qualifiers, but injury forced him to pull out. The teenager scored seven times in 35 appearances last season.
Honourable mention: Michael Noonan (St Patrick’s Athletic, 16)
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