With the nature of top level football evolving, we have seen quite a few talented young players from Ireland look a bit further afield when it comes to making a move at club level.
In previous eras, it was rare to see an Irish player ply their trade outside of Ireland or the UK. The biggest talents in this country were usually picked off by club's in England or Scotland, with those lucky enough to maker a career out of football usually spending all of their playing career at British clubs.
This has been slowly changing. The current generation of Ireland youngsters have shown a willingness to move to continent should the opportunity present itself. The rules around player movement in the UK as a result of Brexit have played a part in U18 footballers moving to Europe, but even those who are slightly older have been willing to move to Europe in recent times.
We were given another example of that this afternoon.
Ireland U21 star makes intriguing European move
It has been announced that Republic of Ireland U21 international Armstrong Oko-Flex has joined Swiss Super League club FC Zurich on a two-year contract.
✍🏼 Der FC Zürich verpflichtet den irischen U21-Nationalspieler Armstrong Oko-Flex!
👉 https://t.co/YWVXJpe6Sy#fcz #NieUsenandGah pic.twitter.com/iUiaL3Cfus— FC Zürich (@fc_zuerich) August 14, 2023
The 21-year old has bounced around various clubs in recent seasons. Having moved from Dublin to join Arsenal in 2013, the forward has also had spells at Celtic and West Ham. He made first team appearances for both of those clubs, spending last season on loan at Swansea City.
He was released by West Ham at the end of the campaign, leading to this free transfer.
While Oko-Flex has yet to nail down consistent playing time at first team level, he is still viewed as an exciting prospect by many in Irish football. He made his debut for Jim Crawford's Ireland U21 side earlier this summer and is likely to play a sizeable role in their upcoming Euro qualifying campaign.
🔵⚪️ suits you!#fcz #NieUsenandGah pic.twitter.com/u27onAQ5yZ
— FC Zürich (@fc_zuerich) August 14, 2023
This will be an interesting move for him. FC Zurich are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, winning a league title as recently as 2022. However, they underwhelmed last season in both their domestic and European campaigns, which included a fourth place finish in a Europa League group that also featured Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven.
They have had a more promising start this season, taking ten points from their first four league games to currently sit top of the Swiss Super League.
Armstrong Oko-Flex will be hoping to get plenty of playing time over the coming months for a club that will have ambition of finish near the top of the league. He will become only the fourth Irish player to feature in the Swiss top flight, following on from Don Givens who lined out for Neuchâtel Xamax from 1981-1986, as well as John Conway and Ronnie O'Brien who had brief spells at FC Winterthur
and Lugano respectively.
It will be interesting to see how it all works out for him.
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