The New Year is upon us, and while it remains to be seen which Irish players shine in '23, one young prospect certainly signed off in style on New Year’s Eve.
As we eagerly anticipate a bright future for Brighton striker Evan Ferguson, we got a timely reminder from another Brighton attacker that patience and perspective is important when assessing promising young forwards.
So let’s hark back to an autumnal Saturday afternoon in October 2019 when an energetic and exciting Irish teenager let off some early Hallowe’en fireworks on the south coast of England.
Aaron Connolly scored twice on his first league start as Brighton beat Tottenham 3-0 at the Amex Stadium; the 19-year-old becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to score in the Premier League.
It only took a matter of hours for the latest striking sensation to be catapulted into the Ireland squad, plucked from the Under-21s as Mick McCarthy brought the young Galway native away with the senior side for a week-long trip across Europe, first to Georgia and stopping off in Switzerland on the way back from Tbilisi.
Connolly, the latest Ireland striker to be dubbed the next Robbie Keane, would make his debut off the bench in the Georgia stalemate, before making his first international start in what turned out to be a comprehensive defeat to Switzerland.
Difficulties for Connolly in recent seasons - he is on his way to Hull after the plug was pulled on his Italian loan - suggest that he will not turn out to be the next international record goalscorer.
But he has time, he is still only 22. He is young, as is Adam Idah and Troy Parrott, other promising Irish attackers who have had much expected of them at a young age.
Ferguson is the latest new kid on the block and will take his share of the load when carrying the nation’s hopes into the upcoming qualifying campaign for Euro 2024.
The striker has been in the "one to watch" category for almost four years at this stage, ever since making his debut for Bohemians in a friendly clash with Chelsea back in 2019.
Just 14-years-old when sent into the action against the men, Ferguson seized the initiative and duly signed for Premier League side Brighton just a couple of months after his 16th birthday.
Ferguson made an immediate impact at his new club, impressing in the Premier League B, and under the guidance of former manager Graham Potter, he was gradually introduced into the first team squad.
And 2022 really cemented the youngster’s future at Brighton as he scored his first senior goal in the League Cup in August as a 17-year-old, before signing a long-term contract on his 18th birthday in October, while also receiving his first Ireland cap, after coming off the bench in the November friendly game against Norway.
To top it off, a festive finish saw Ferguson grab his first ever Premier League goal for Brighton on New Year’s Eve, as he came off the bench against Arsenal and scored his side’s second goal in the 4-2 defeat – taking Connolly’s club record in the process.
His first Premier League start on Tuesday night yielded another goal, and an assist, as he continued to festivities into the new year.
Hopes are high for Ferguson's 2023 and we will be wondering if there will be any correlation with the fact that the Meath native has become the youngest Republic of Ireland international goalscorer in the Premier League - a record once held by Keane.
There is no doubt that Ferguson will be called into the Ireland squad for the upcoming games in March should he continue to hang around the Brighton squad and gain valuable Premier League experience over the coming months, however, there will be a responsibility for the decision makers at both club and country to manage the player properly and maintain a realistic approach despite any external expectations.
There was speculation that Ferguson would go out on loan in January and follow a path similar to the one that Parrott has taken over the past couple of seasons, however, in light of recent events, current manager Roberto De Zerbi will, no doubt, be keen to monitor his progress a bit closer to home – Connolly would make 24 Premier League appearances following his breakthrough brace throughout that 2019-20 campaign.
Stephen Kenny’s experience over the past few years, integrating young prospects into the team should also make Ferguson’s assimilation more organic, while the manager is not under pressure for him to start straightaway, as there are several experienced attacking options ahead in the pecking order.
The most natural approach to Ferguson’s Ireland progression would be to mirror what is happening at club level, and whether the next two months see him remain in the role of impact sub, it is surely all that can be expected in the green jersey with such a vital game coming up against the World Cup finalists, France.
There are several roads laid out in front of the emerging teenager, and judging by the progression that has been made over the past few years, it will be Ferguson himself who determines how fast he can progress on the Premier League highway, or whether his journey might need a divisional detour to bring out his full potential over the coming seasons.
