Lincoln City are set to sign Mason Melia on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur, according to journalist Peter O’Rourke.
Usually, a tweet from O’Rourke means an agent leak, so a deal is almost certainly either done or as close to done as possible. This week, he did put his 48-hour klaxon out and get one wrong, but usually, he’s not far off. The consensus in the industry is that he has a network of agents who drop him news ahead of an embargo to help keep his follower count up, a favour he returns with unspecific tweets about players agents are looking to generate interest in.
In this instance, he has tweeted, ‘Understand Lincoln are set to win the race for Tottenham forward Mason Melia on a season-long loan deal with the Championship new boys hoping to wrap up the deal inside the next 48 hours. #THFC #Imps #WeAreImps’.
O’Rourke isn’t grabbing an exclusive here: Melia was linked with Lincoln City over the weekend, so news of a possible deal has been circulating for a while now. With reports of 30 loan enquiries for Melia, if we do grab him from Spurs it’ll feel like a bit of a coup and perhaps even a slight sweetener to the potential loss of Jack Moylan this week.
Mason Melia
Melia is one of Irish football’s most highly regarded young forwards, having joined Tottenham Hotspur from St Patrick’s Athletic in a deal reportedly worth an initial €2 million, potentially rising to €4 million. The 18-year-old made his senior debut at just 15 and went on to register 25 goals in 98 appearances for St Patrick’s, including 15 during his final season in Ireland.
Melia became both St Patrick’s youngest-ever player and goalscorer, as well as the youngest scorer in League of Ireland Premier Division history. His performances earned him the PFAI Young Player of the Year award in 2024, while he was also named his club’s Young Player of the Year in successive seasons. Tottenham faced competition from several Premier League clubs for his signature before allowing him to remain in Ireland until officially moving to north London in January.
A powerful and versatile forward, Melia has been praised for his pace, finishing, movement, pressing and ability to hold up the ball. He can operate through the middle or across the attacking line, and would bring considerably more senior experience than the average Premier League academy loanee.
A temporary move would allow him to continue his development through regular Championship football after training with Roberto De Zerbi’s first-team squad and featuring during Tottenham’s pre-season preparations. It would also give us something we probably need a bit more of: numbers and threat on the front line.
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