City Linked With £175,000 Irish Sensation

The Imps have been linked with a move for Larne teenager Dylan Sloan, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

The 19-year-old is reportedly already a target for Everton, Stoke, and Leicester City, but those teams were thrown together with him by Football Insider. The Belfast Telegraph is a more reputable outlet, and they’re suggesting that us and Blackpool are hunting the midfielder.

The box-to-box midfielder has been impressive for Larne, managed by Tiernan Lynch, playing in their Champions League matches against HJK Helsinki in which they were narrowly defeated 3-2 on aggregate. His career began with Ridgeway Rovers before his switch to Larne; he’s also had loan spells at Newry City and Knockbreda.

This season, as well as his European adventures, he has scored twice in 12 top-flight matches, but this rich potential comes at a cost – it’s believed Larne would want €200,000 for his signature, no small fee for a teenager from Ireland.

Larne has previously been a good hunting ground for the Imps – it’s the team we signed Jeff Hughes from back in 2005. Hughes is back at Larne now, having retired in January, and he is head of youth development.

It seems unlikely the Imps would be willing to splash out a six-figure sum on a teenage midfielder, not least when we already have three top players in that position. What feels more likely is we’ve been to a Larne game and cast our eye over the player. Or the manager. You never know, do you?