UCD defender Jesse Dempsey snapped up by Lecce

The Wexford native broke into the Students’ Premier Division and Ireland U19 teams over 2023 and had options to remain in Ireland or the UK this year.

LECCE LAD: Jesse Dempsey of UCD during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Bohemians and UCD at Dalymount Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Serie A side Lecce has swooped to recruit highly-rated UCD left-back Jesse Dempsey.

The Wexford native, who turns 19 next week, broke into the Students’ Premier Division and Ireland U19 teams over 2023 and had options to remain in Ireland or the UK this year.

However, he’s opted to maintain a recent trend of Irish players exploring the continent for their football career by joining the Italian top-flight outfit, currently 13th in the table.

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Justin Ferizaj joined newly-promoted Serie A outfit Frosinone Calcio on a long-term contract last summer while James Abankwah and senior international Festy Ebosele are with Udinese.

Liam Kerrigan also departed UCD and joined Como in Italy. Cork native Cathal Heffernan spent 12 months at AC Milan before moving to Newcastle United before the transfer window closed.

Kevin Zefi was signed from Shamrock Rovers by their city rivals Inter Milan but has been informed he can seek a new challenge elsewhere.

A shoulder injury scuppered a planned switch to join Heffernan at Newcastle.