Damien will be officially unveiled as a Cork City player at the club’s weekly press conference next Tuesday,

Cork City are closing in on a possible deal to bring Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney back to his native city, Examiner Sport understands.

Martin O’Neill has firmly placed Damien Delaney’s international future in the player’s hands by suggesting he won’t rule the Corkman out of his Euro plans if “he’s an interest in playing” for Ireland.

There has been a trend developing in football, or soccer, or whatever you call it yourself, whereby multi-million pound players leaving big clubs for other big clubs tweet or Instagram or communicate in some other new-fangled way their gratitude to the fans and the institution they are leaving behind.

Damien Delaney’s international career appears over. 

“I know that at the age of 34 the future of Irish football does not lie with me.”