French club Rennes make offer for St Pat's star

Glory Nzingo of St Patricks Athletic during the 2019 SSE Airtricity Under-15 League Final against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

French club Rennes are leading the queue of European clubs seeking to recruit St Patrick’s Athletic’s 17-year-old starlet Glory Nzingo.

The midfielder made his first-team debut for the Saints at 15 in a friendly against Chelsea in 2019 and was last year named as the FAI’s U15 Player of the Year.

Nzingo sufficiently impressed the French Ligue 1 side to earn a contract offer and talks with the player’s representatives, as well as the Saints, are ongoing.

His move to Europe would follow that of fellow teen Kevin Zefi, the Shamrock Rovers striker due to join Inter Milan, and indicates a developing new export route for Irish talent.

The fallout from Brexit means that UK clubs are debarred from recruiting players until they reach their 18th birthday, creating opportunities from other markets within the European Union.

Zefi’s relative, Justin Ferizaj, was recently on trial at AS Roma, along with Rovers team-mate Sam Curtis, who also visited Bayer Leverkusen as he weighs up his future options.

Bundesliga clubs began showing an interest in Irish prospects at the start of 2020 when Brexit became an issue.

Sinclair Armstrong, another Rovers player, impressed over his week-long audition at Hoffenheim but opted to join English Championship club QPR, where his progress has earned the 18-year-old a new bumper contract.

Rennes, whose first-team finished sixth last season, are renowned for developing gems through their Academy system, including Ousmane Dembele, Abdoulaye Doucouré, and Sylvain Wiltord.

Nzingo started his fledgling career at local club Mountview Boys, lining out for Castleknock Celtic, Home Farm, and Cherry Orchard before joining St Pat’s, who he helped win the U19 League of Ireland final in December.