Graham Burke will take a well-worn path for League of Ireland players in recent times - one to Preston North End.
In today's Irish Daily Star, Mark McCadden reports that the Championship side will sign Burke from Shamrock Rovers in a deal worth €300,000.
It's said that the 24-year-old will play two more games for Rovers - against Bray Wanderers on Saturday and Limerick on June 15th - before moving to Preston on July 1st.
Burke bucked a trend in recent times of League of Ireland players having to win themselves a move abroad before being given their chance with Ireland.
He became the first League of Ireland player to win an Ireland cap since Joe Gamble in 2007 when he came off the bench against France last week.
The forward subsequently started and scored in Ireland's 2-1 win versus the US at the weekend. He also featured for an Ireland XI against Celtic in Scott Brown's testimonial.
At Preston, Burke will join fellow former League of Ireland players Andy Boyle, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Sean Maguire, Kevin O'Connor and Eoin Doyle. The squad also includes Irish players Greg Cunningham, Callum Robinson and Adam O'Reilly.
Burke, who previously played for Aston Villa and Notts County, joined Shamrock Rovers in February of last year. He has scored ten times this season.
Last week, it was reported by the Irish Independent that Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Blackburn were also interested in Burke.
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
