Ryan Nolan didn't quite make the grade at Inter Milan, but he has impressed since dropping down to the third tier of Italian football.
The Clare-born defender was on the books at the Italian giants as a 16-year old, going on to captain them at various levels and making the bench for a couple of Europa League games at senior level. However, the arrival of Antonio Conte in Milan ended any chance of a first team breakthrough.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said that he knew he would not have a future at Inter after the former Chelsea boss was appointed in the summer of 2019.
In 2018 I had a pre-season at Inter with head coach Luciano Spalletti, and we played Chelsea and Atletico Madrid which was a great experience.
I trained with the first team throughout that year when I was captain of the Primavera team and I was on the bench for a couple of Europa League games.
Then Antonio Conte came in last summer. I had three or four weeks with him but he shipped out a lot of youngsters. He wanted instant success, he brought in Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Diego Godin and others.
He didn't really think about the youngsters' progress. We all went away, either on loan or permanently. Conte wasn't going to give us a chance.
Nolan has since been plying his trade at Serie C side Arezzo and Giana Erminio, earning plenty of plaudits with his performances.
He was strongly linked with a move to Leeds United last summer, with a number of English clubs once again eyeing his signature in the coming weeks. Leicester City have been mentioned as a possible destination.
The 21-year old has revealed that clubs in the Championship and Premier League have shown an interest in him and he is hoping to make the move to England before the end of the transfer window.
Like a lot of Irish lads I grew up watching the Premier League. Last year I was close to coming here, Leeds United were very interested, but this year I'm hoping to get a move sorted before the end of the summer transfer window.
There's a couple of Championship clubs interested and one Premier League club as well.
With the coronavirus impact it is different this summer, in Italy as well as in England. Budgets are up in the air and clubs are taking longer to make decisions.
But I've had another year of professional football, I'm a year more experienced and wiser. I feel as if I have grown up fast.
It would be great to see more of him in the coming months.
