City scouts dispatched to watch Saints' wonderkid Curtis

Defender is still 16 so cannot move across the Irish Sea for another 14 months but English champions are doing their due diligence 

TOP TALENT: St Pat's Sam Curtis has some of England's biggest sides on his trail. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

Manchester City will continue to keep tabs on precocious St Patrick’s Athletic defender Sam Curtis by sending their scouts to watch him in action against Bohemians on Friday night.

The 16-year-old has established himself in Tim Clancy’s side, whose recent surge puts them within a point of third place and automatic European qualification.

It was inevitable the Navan native was eyeing big things when taking the brave decision to swap Shamrock Rovers for St Pat’s last season and he penned his first professional contract in January.

Fourteen league starts later, plus a run in the Ireland U19 team that recently blazed through their Uefa qualification group, and Curtis is a wanted man.

City are leading the queue, having monitored the gem since his embryonic days with St Kevin’s Boys, but cannot formally recruit him for another 14 months, when he turns 18 in December 2023.

Brexit rules prohibit the transfer of U18s to UK clubs but there is nothing to prevent the Premier League champions brokering a deal that allows Curtis spend a final season with St Pat’s before moving to the Etihad.

Alternatively, a bridge arrangement, whereby he joins another outfit in City’s group, Lommel SK of Belgium, for the interim year, is an option, albeit a remote one.

A 14-year-old Curtis made history in 2020 by becoming the youngest-ever debutant of Shamrock Rovers when featuring for their First Division team against Athlone Town. He underwent trials at AS Roma and Bayer Leverkusen but UK clubs are back in the mix as he nears the age permissible for recruitment.

Richmond Park will be a 5,000-sell-out for the visit of their Dublin rivals Bohs, whose ongoing efforts to appoint a successor to sacked boss Keith Long are descending into farce. Derry City’s assistant Alan Reynolds rejected the vacancy while talks between the Gypsies and Wexford manager Ian Ryan over the job have been protracted.

The only other top-flight game sees Finn Harps, joint-bottom with UCD, host a Dundalk side wounded by three defeats in their last six. The Lilywhites will be leapfrogged for third spot if St Pat’s win and Dundalk lose.

Cork City are in line to receive a guard of honour from Athlone Town in the Midlands as they can complete the final two games as First Division champions regardless of results.

Colin Healy completes his three-match touchline ban in time for next Friday’s trophy-lifting concluder against Bray Wanderers at Turners Cross but will use the pair of matches to shuffle his squad.

Exciting talents such as 17-year-old Franco Umeh will be afforded the stage to shine, along with others vying to remain part of Healy’s plans for life in the Premier Division.

Galway United can rise level with second-placed Waterford should they win at Wexford, while Cobh are playing for pride in their final game of the campaign at Bray Wanderers. Shane Keegan’s side are guaranteed to be propping up the table.