Ireland hands in transfer request
And the club has reportedly made their first inquiries into a bid for Everton’s Mikel Arteta as a replacement for the Cobh-born midfielder.
Blues boss Roberto Mancini, had said Ireland needed to “change his head” to ensure he turned things around at Eastlands but his request for a move away was reluctantly accepted.
Ireland was marginalised under Mancini having been voted player of the year two seasons ago. There were concerted efforts behind the scenes to convince him to stay but he has not played a full 90 minutes since a 2-0 loss to Portsmouth in January.
Paraguay star Roque Santa Cruz, a team-mate of Ireland’s at club level, had said yesterday that he hoped the Irishman would still be around when the South American returned from World Cup duty.
Ireland’s self-imposed international exile means he won’t be in the RDS for Parguay’s clash with the Republic Of Ireland tonight, but his clubmate said he understands his difficulties.
“I hope to see him when I return,” Santa Cruz said yesterday at Paraguay’s Dublin base. “He is a fantastic player. He hasn’t had an easy year and everybody knows he wasn’t happy as he wasn’t playing as much as he wanted, but we want him to stay with us.”
Santa Cruz was also keen to point out how much former captain Richard Dunne was missed at the heart of their defence last season.
“With his move he has had another great year, he is a fantastic player, a guy everybody loves, so we miss him in our defence,” he said.
“I think it’s hard to say (whether losing Dunne was a mistake). If he had stayed he would have had a tough year in terms of not playing every game.”
Paraguay face Italy, Slovakia and New Zealand in their group in South Africa, and Santa Cruz expects Ireland to provide them with a challenge ahead of their campaign.
Paraguay (Probable team) : Bobadilla; Alcaraz, Da Silva, Caniza, Morel Rodriguez; Santana, Riveros, Vera, Gamarra; Santa Cruz, Barrios.
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