Cork City have confirmed that Brian Lenihan has left the club to join Hull City.
Brian Lenihan has signed for @HullCity. We wish him the best of luck. #CCFC84 http://t.co/YP5f9IUxkW
— Cork City FC (@CorkCityFC) August 31, 2014
The versatile 20 year old has become one of the hottest properties in the League of Ireland since the beginning of the season with his form seeing him linked with plenty of clubs in Britain including Arsenal. However, Hull have taken the plunge on Lenihan who has played in both midfield and defence during his time at Turner's Cross.
Cork chairman Pat Lyons took the opportunity to speak on behalf of the club in wishing Lenihan continued success overseas.
We would like to wish Brian the best of luck in the next stage of his career. Since he joined us, Brian has been a credit to his family and to his schoolboy club, College Corinthians; showing a fantastic attitude and excellent ability, which I am sure will see him progress far in the game.
While no club likes to see its best players leave en masse, Lyons was quick to acknowledge the fact that Cork were willing to aide Lenihan's desire to play in the Premier League. His statement also indicated that Cork will be in line to benefit should Lenihan's embark on a successful cross-channel career.
As a club, we never want to see our best players depart, however we are pleased that we have reached what we believe to be a fair and reasonable agreement with Hull for his transfer, and that Cork City FC stands to benefit further should Brian continue to progress as we all expect him to do.
The road from Turner's across to various levels of the English game is a well trodden one and Lenihan will hope that he can follow Shane Long and Kevin Doyle in establishing himself within the English game.
Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
