Cathal Heffernan completed a loan move from Cork City to AC Milan on Monday. It's expected that the Ireland U17 captain will make a permanent move during the summer.
The defender is the son of Irish Olympians Marian and Rob Heffernan. He went on trial to a number of Italian clubs last year.
Finally it’s official. So proud of you Cathal this is only the beginning ❤️ Now it’s time to work #teamheff #driveon pic.twitter.com/gLRkm2jKTU
— Rob Heffernan OLY (@RM_Heffernan) January 31, 2022
"All of the clubs that we went to, the facilities were brilliant, the coaches were brilliant," Rob Heffernan told RTÉ.
"He's going to be working underneath Paolo Maldini, arguably the greatest defender ever.
"For us as parents, and him to go away and have another father figure who will look after him, and someone we can look up to, that's really important as well. You're still only developing mentally at 16.
"I think he'll do really well because he's gone through a lot in the last couple of years. The Brexit thing was obviously a big blow at the time.
"With Stephen Ireland's help getting contacts in Europe, and being to the clubs... A lot of them came really close. He's gone through a lot of disappointments as well."
7 October 2021; Republic of Ireland captain Cathal Heffernan with Stephen Ireland and family members, his mother Marian Heffernan, Rob Heffernan and sister Megan Carr after the UEFA U17 Championship Qualifier match between Republic of Ireland and Andorra at Turner's Cross in Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Marian Heffernan added that it has been a "mad" time.
"He's put in so much work over the last year, trialling and playing international games, playing games with Cork City. Everything had led to this," she said.
"I think the soccer world, it does nurture them. He's going to be provided with a school. He had good friends over there, they're in contact with him since he's been on trial there last year. He does have a connection to the place. All you can do is put him into the environment and hope he goes. What better place to cut your teeth than AC Milan."
Heffernan is the third Irish underage international to join a Serie A club in recent times. Kevin Zefi is with Inter Milan, while James Abankwah signed with Udinese last week.
Finally it's official!A huge well done to our superstar Cathal Heffernan who has in the last couple of hours signed for @acmilan
Cathal was an integral part of our Munster & All-Ireland Senior Cup winning teams at just 14 years old
Forza Milan
Forza DCS...School of stars pic.twitter.com/o0ZLRi9SSw— DCS Sport (@DCSSport) January 31, 2022
Picture credit: ph.FAB / Shutterstock.com and Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
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