Heartbreaker Richie Towell hoping to catch Roy Keane's eye for Euro place

Roy Keane had a word with PFAI Player of the Year Richie Towell at the awards ceremony in Dublin last Friday. Well, a word or two actually.

“He just said ‘you’ve had a great season’ and then he told me I broke his heart in the FAI Cup final by scoring the winner because he’s a Cork fan,” the Dundalk man relates with a grin.

But could the League of Ireland’s best player yet help mend Keano’s broken heart this summer? Towell, who yesterday created a new record by picking up his third SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Player of the Month award in a year, is on the brink of tying up a move to England which, if all goes according to plan — or better — could give him a chance to catch Martin O’Neill’s eye and gatecrash the Irish squad for next summer’s Euro 2016 finals in France.

Not that the man himself is getting carried away with the possibility.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be a player that goes to the Euros,” he says. “Any footballer would dream of representing their country but I’ve never been in a squad and lads have put in the hard graft to get them there. For me to think I’m going to go is a bit unrealistic, but at the same time if I did go and play in the Championship and I was scoring goals, it would be a difficult decision for the manager to leave me out. The manager tends to bring the players on form into the squad and use them in games.” And if the dream does become reality, the 24-year-old Dubliner insists he wouldn’t be fazed.

“Yeah, no problem,” he says. “I’ve played in Euro Championships before with the U21s, U19s and U17s so this is just another progression in my career. I was able to do it then when I was only a kid so I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to do it now.” But first, there’s a crucial stepping stone still to be negotiated in the form of a move away from Ireland and his double-winning Dundalk side. Championship-chasing Brighton, under the management of Chris Hughton, are considered favourites to land the attacking midfielder. Nevertheless they are not the only suitors about.

“There’s been a bit of interest from the States, from Poland, from Turkey, Canada as well,” Towell reports.

”Dundalk, as well, they are still in the picture. I’m not ruling anything out because it’s not done until it is signed on the dotted line. I’d probably prefer to go to England, if I’m honest. If I want to play in the Irish national team, it’d probably be a good step to go to England and play in the Championship.

“I always want to improve as a player and improve my career. I always said I was never going to really go to a League 2 or League 1 club. It wasn’t really an option, I don’t think. I don’t see that as improving myself. I’d prefer to go and play in the Championship. That would be ideal. Obviously playing in the Premier League would be even better but I have to be realistic at the same time.”

Brighton boss Hughton last night told Newstalk: “Richie’s a player we’re certainly aware of but we’re conscious lots of other clubs are also aware of him. He’s had a good season and I’m delighted for him because it’s certainly a good league... what he’s been able to achieve in that season, I think he’s done very, very well for himself.”

Whatever his destination, he fully intends to take up where he leaves off at Dundalk, hitting the ground running.

“No matter where I go, I want to go straight in and play,” he says. “I know that’s probably not realistic either. The manager, no matter what club it’s at, will have his team and his players but I don’t think he’ll be bringing me in to play reserve football.

“I’m 24 and I’d like to imagine I’d be in contention straight away. I haven’t played for a couple of weeks so if it was a case I moved over, I’m sure I’d have to play some reserve games or some bounce games to get my match sharpness back. Hopefully then I can push my way into any team that I do go to.”

As he contemplates an exciting future in football, Towell is not losing sight of important events closer to home, not least the impending arrival of a baby for himself and girlfriend Kelly.

“The baby is due in 10 days and we’re trying to buy a house as well at the moment so there is a lot going on that’s distracting me from not getting too caught up in the negotiations, so that’s probably been a good thing,” he says.

“I always said to Kelly that I don’t want to be a part-time dad. I would love them to move over and it would probably help me settle in a lot quicker as well. First steps, first words — I don’t want to miss things like that. There are more important things than football.”