Preston North End today confirmed the signing of Cork City's Kevin O’Connor, who will join up with the club along with Seanie Maguire at the end of July.
O'Connor has been impressive in Cork City's defence during their outstanding league run this season, and in a strikingly similar fashion to Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle in January, will have a friend in Maguire to help with settling in to life in England.
BREAKING: #pnefc have agreed a deal with @CorkCityFC to sign defender Kevin O’Connor. Full details here: https://t.co/2Lyyw7qnDC pic.twitter.com/hB6ZpE1pDD
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) June 30, 2017
SQUAD NEWS | @kevoconnor12 to join @pnefc: https://t.co/39JhbcpG4o #CCFC84 pic.twitter.com/UJybeA50yG
— Cork City FC (@CorkCityFC) June 30, 2017
O'Connor and Maguire join Horgan, Boyle, Alan Browne, and Eoin Doyle as former League of Ireland players on PNE's roster, as well as Greg Cunningham, giving them one of the strongest Irish contingents at an English club for some time.
Aiden McGeady, however, is expected to join manager Simon Greyson when he moves to Sunderland, which also raises a question as to who gave the green light for the signing of O'Connor.
We certainly hope Preston don't go on to appoint a manager who doesn't share the same respect for the League of Ireland that Greyson does, but for the latest man to make the jump from the Airticity League to the Championship, the prospect of becoming a viable option for Martin O'Neill was too good to turn down.
We wish him all the best, and hope to report on his progress as we inevitably cover most things that Preston do next season.
