Livingston look set to snap up Hoolahan
Emmet Malone reports
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National League Transfer news
In the wake of last week's speculation over the future of his leading scorer, Jason Byrne, Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon's plans for next season have received a further jolt in the form of a bid from Scottish Premier League side Livingston for the club's gifted young winger Wes Hoolahan.
The Scots have so far tabled two offers for the midfielder with the Dublin outfit said to be considering a bid of around €225,000 for the under-21 international.
There are reports in Scotland that Livingston boss Paul Lambert might be willing to go as high as €300,000 for the 22-year-old but he may not have to bother as Shelbourne weigh up the possibility that they might lose the player for nothing when his contract expires at the end of next season.
"The situation is that we've made it clear to Wes that we don't want him to go," said Fenlon yesterday. "He's a smashing player and a big part of my plans here but unfortunately he has said that he wants to give British football another go and so that makes the situation difficult from our point of view.
"We had one offer which we rejected out of hand and Livingston have come back with something better which the board are looking at at the moment. I suppose the whole thing will move on a bit in the next day or so but at the moment that's where it stands. We have to be realistic about things."
Lambert is not the first manager to take a shine to Hoolahan but his bid comes after a late show of very strong form by the player in the league and at a time when he has already turned down offers of a new deal from Shelbourne.
Fenlon, meanwhile, denied rumours that Djugardens have renewed talks over Byrne in the wake of Shelbourne's decision last week to turn down an offer of more than €400,000 for the striker.
Part of the problem for the Swedish club is that anything up to half of the fee they pay for the league's top scorer will go to Bray Wanderers under the terms of the deal that brought him to Tolka Park in the first place, a clause that is now proving to be a major deterrent to any sale.
It had been speculated last week, however, that if the deal did go through then Shelbourne might move to sign Byrne's replacement at the Carlisle grounds, Eamon Zayed.
Djugardens had been rumoured to have switched their attention to Cork City's John O'Flynn but that has also been denied since with the striker now looking set for a move to Swansea where he is likely to be signed as an understudy to the hugely popular Lee Trundle.
Shamrock Rovers are set to part company with club captain Trevor Molloy as the club's continuing campaign to reduce costs ahead of a first season outside the top flights had apparently made him look a little unaffordable.
Since taking over Pat Scully has moved quickly to overhaul the club's first-team squad, releasing a number of established players including Kieran Foley, Willo McDonagh and Gavin McDonagh. His early recruits have included John McGuinness and Paul Connaughton, from his former club Kilkenny City.
© The Irish Times
