One news story that seems to be slowly emerging at Sincil Bank is that of a possible hunt for Irish midfielder Senan Mullen.
I’ve seen a couple of ‘in the know’ style accounts claiming the 18-year-old has been on trial with the Imps this week, and that he was at the ground on Saturday as we drew with Derby. Of course, Stacey West readers won’t find news of interest in Mullen to be brand new – we mentioned he had featured against Boston back on December 7th, proving that a trial happened well before the turn of the year.
I can’t comment on whether he was at the game this week or not, but his name has emerged for a reason now, rather than a month or so ago when he was 100% here on trial, playing in the game against Boston United that saw us thrown out of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup. I suspect that he may well be on our radar, but I don’t expect him to be one of the players Michael Skubala has targeted as having an immediate impact on the side.
Big night for young Senan Mullen who is involved with the senior team for the first time.
Senan, who made his Irish U17 debut last month, has been named man of the match in both of our U19 team's games this season and scored against Athlone Town yesterday. pic.twitter.com/2GKixtCesK
— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) March 14, 2022
Senan Mullen is considered something of a hot prospect over in Ireland, where he has recently broken through with Dundalk. He made his first team debut in September, having been at Oriel Park for four years. He’s appeared for The Lilywhites from Under 15 level through to the first team, and he ended the season with four outings, two of which were starts.
“It was great to see Senan make his debut,” said Dundalk head coach Stephen O’Donnell following that maiden appearance. “He has been in training with us over the last couple of weeks, and he has all the raw attributes and the tools you need. You can see what a specimen and an athlete he is, and he’s improving all the time.”
In October, he appeared for Ireland’s Under 19 side against Scotland as an 86th-minute sub, before starting the win against Faroe Islands a couple of days later. Less than a month before his Imps trial, he was drafted into the Ireland Under 19 squad for their UEFA European Championship Qualifiers against Albania, Slovenia, and Belgium, coming off the bench in the first and last matches.
👏🏼 Great to see Senan Mullen come off the bench and make his first-team debut for the club against Cork City on Monday night. pic.twitter.com/3DcX0EINYF
— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) September 26, 2023
He is currently a free agent, and whilst he’s being linked with us, there’s firm interest from his former employer, Dundalk. Just yesterday, O’Donnell stressed he was still keen to sign the midfielder back on for the upcoming season.
“We’re looking to re-sign Senan,” O’Donnell confirmed on Thursday night. “There’s obviously interest in relation to cross channel etc so we’ll see where that goes.”
That’s the latest, with no confirmation of the rumours of him being at the ground this weekend but growing speculation that he could become a Lincoln player before the window closes. Whether he would remain here or head out on loan with a League of Ireland club, perhaps Dundalk, before joining up in July remains to be seen.