Shamrock Rovers have won the race to sign Celtic striker Johnny Kenny on loan for the 2023 League of Ireland season.
After scoring 11 goals in his debut campaign for Sligo Rovers, Kenny moved to the Scottish champions a year ago and featured in their 'B' side.
A loan spell at Queen's Park in the Scottish Championship did not produce any goals in 12 appearances with Celtic willing to send Kenny back to his home country in a bid to find form again.
Several sides were chasing the 19-year-old, including his hometown club Sligo, but Stephen Bradley's men have secured his signature.
Kenny said: "It's great to be here. I couldn't wait to get here once I spoke to the manager. Now it's time to get down to work.
"There wer a few clubs sniffing about. Once I spoke to Stephen and his ambition for the club with that they have done in the past few years winning leagues and qualifying for the group stage of the Conference League, you want to play at the highest level. That's what I want to do and put a smile on my face and the fans."
The 19-year-old added that the recent transfers of Danny Mandriou and Andy Lyons to clubs in the UK influenced his decision with the motivation of returning to Celtic with a chance of making it in their first-team: "It's massive for me because I really need a jumpstart to get back to what I was at Sligo. That was big for me. A lot of players Stephen has brought in have gone to the UK. That's what I think I need."
Bradley is happy to have secured the move for the next 12 months: "We like his attributes and the way he plays the game. We've liked him and monitored him for quite some time.
"We tried to get him a couple of years back and it didn’t quite come off so we’re delighted to get him, because he has some really good attributes that we feel will improve the team."
"I think we’ve got really good options up front and when you add John into that mix, it only adds to it. We have Rory Gaffney, Graham Burke and Aaron Greene and then when you add Simon Power and Neil Farrugia to that, we’ve got real pace in that final third.
"But we’re always looking to improve in every area of the pitch, and we feel Johnny represents a chance for us to improve. He gives us a different option to what we have and a different type of player to what we have at the moment.
"We know what he’s about and we’ve seen it first-hand, so there are no surprises for us or for him. He knows the league and we know Johnny. In this team, with the chances we create and the way he plays, I think he’ll really enjoy it and score goals."
