Derry City have announced that Patrick McEleney will rejoin the club at the end of the season, but the announcement has proven to be contentious at current club Dundalk.
The 28-year is set to rejoin the club he started his senior career with, spending five years with The Candystripes before departing in 2010.
They released a statement on the matter last night.
CITY CONFIRM MCELENEY PRE-CONTRACT DEAL ✍️
Derry City FC can confirm that Patrick McEleney has agreed a pre-contract at the club which will see the midfielder return home when his current deal at Dundalk expires.https://t.co/03WmURcOfC pic.twitter.com/lDDhDr7bOO— Derry City FC (@derrycityfc) July 8, 2021
Derry City FC can confirm that Patrick McEleney has agreed a pre-contract at the club which will see the midfielder return home when his current deal at Dundalk expires.
City have made enquiries to the Louth club about releasing McEleney in the current transfer window however no agreement on that has been reached as yet.
Derry are keen however to put an end to ongoing speculation about the player’s future.
However, the timing of the announcement has not gone down well at Dundalk.
The news was shared only minutes after they had secured a 4-0 win over 4-0 win over Newtown AFC in their Europa Conference League qualifier, a game in which McEleney played the full 90 minutes.
Dundalk manager Vinnie Perth has slammed the way this has been handled by their League of Ireland rivals, believing it has been done so to unsettle the player. Derry City are believed to be keen to bring McEleney on board before the end of the current transfer window.
I think it’s a complete and utter lack of respect for this football club.
The wording of it is disgraceful and it’s trying to unsettle this football team and I won’t let anyone unsettle the football team that I’m working with. I just think it’s completely disrespectful.
The people in Derry are good people but I’m just shocked by it and I thought particularly the manager would have known better. He has done very well out of this football club for a long time.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming weeks, with the transfer window remaining open until July 31st.
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