Mick McCarthy's continued employment has been good for Irish footballers, as he has consistently stocked his squads with Irish players. Often, his clubs have worked as a kind of halfway house for Irish players out of favour elsewhere: Kevin Foley being the latest.
He also has a penchant for snapping up exciting young Irish players, however, with Waterford's Aaron Drinan the latest.
Ipswich have completed the signing of the 19-year-old striker for an undisclosed fee, and has agreed a contract running until 2021. He has been training with the club since October, but has had to wait until now for international clearance to be granted.
Mick McCarthy sang his praises to the club's website:
He’s really impressed me.
He hasn’t looked out of place in training at all. The only frustrating thing is that he hasn’t been able to play but he’s ready to go now.
Drinan's time with Waterford was brief: he joined in July from Cork City, making six appearances as the club pushed for promotion. Prior to that he played at underage level for Cork City, playing for the club's under-19s. He scored against both HJK Helsinki and AS Roma in the UEFA Youth League.
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