Looking at his form for Blackburn Rovers this season, Ireland fans have been excited about the prospect of seeing Sammie Szmodics in a green jersey in 2024.
The 28-year old has been in stellar form at club level in recent months, currently sitting top of the Championship scoring charts with 16 goals. He also netted a hat-trick in the FA Cup last weekend.
Szmodics has yet to make his debut for Ireland, although he has been in the squad on a couple of occasions. He was forced to pull out in June of 2021 due to injury, while he left the group in October of last year to deal with a personal issue. That personal issue would also keep him out of contention in November.
It had been assumed that he would be in the Irish squad for the friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland in March, although it seems another European nation are eyeing up the Blackburn man.
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Ireland-eligible Sammie Szmodics being targeted by European nation
The Irish Examiner are reporting that Hungary are considering bringing Sammie Szmodics on board ahead of their Euro 2024 campaign this summer. Their manager Marco Rossi is said to have 'tabled an invitation for the player to audition' for his squad for the tournament in Germany.
Born in Colchester, Szmodics qualifies to play for Hungary through his grandfather. While he had previously declared his intention to play for Ireland, he would be free to play for the Hungarians as he has yet to feature for any nation at international level.
The forward qualified for Ireland through his Longford-born grandmother and went through the process of getting an Irish passport in order to become eligible for the side.
It is not said if the player could be tempted by an approach from Hungary. They are clearly a stronger team than Ireland at the moment, qualifying for a third successive Euros this summer.
While the Hungarians have some top class players such as Dominik Szoboszlai and Peter Gulacsi in the squad, they also depend on quite a few players from the lower levels of European football. As a result, Szmodics would certainly be in with a strong chance of making their squad for the Euros if he was intent on making the switch.
Considering the excitement he has generated among Ireland fans in recent months, it would be a big blow were he to declare for another country before we get a chance to see him in green.
Here's hoping he will resist the advances of Hungary and line out at the Aviva Stadium in March.
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