Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne is in an excellent position when it comes to the career choices he faces in the next few months, according to Paul Corry.
The four-time Republic of Ireland cap was the subject of interest from Charlotte FC last week ahead of today's Major League Soccer transfer deadline, with the Hoops rejecting every bid from the North Carolina outfit.
The MLS club's focus on the soon-to-be 27-year-old is long-standing as Byrne outlined himself on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast 18 months ago and is driven by their current head coach Christian Lattanzio who was an assistant to Patrick Vieira when Byrne was a key part of Manchester City's academy team.
And with Byrne's contract at Tallaght Stadium expiring when this season ends, the much-travelled playmaker has plenty of options when it comes to deciding where to take his career next as ex-UCD, Shamrock Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Corry outlined on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"The age profile of Jack, he should be coming towards the prime of his career over the next three, four years and it would be great if he could stay at Shamrock Rovers," he said.
"But if he stays injury-free and that head coach is still there come the end of the season, Jack is in a fantastic position with regards to where he wants to take his career.
"Shamrock Rovers have been brilliant in helping him rebuild and get back to really high levels but there is a feeling that with six months left on his contract, if he is to kick on again and find those levels, it's very hard to see how he is going to stay in this league."
Former Dundalk and St Johnstone striker David McMillan was also on the podcast and pointed out how Byrne has revelled in being back home during his two spells at Shamrock Rovers.
But from his current club's point of view in forgoing a sizeable transfer fee, Byrne staying bolsters their short-term goal of trying to reach the group stages of a European competition for the second season in a row.
"It seems that Rovers are taking a little bit of risk there but probably the right decision considering the money that they've made in terms of other transfers that they've done and their European run last year that they don't feel in a position that they have to sell," McMillan said.
Corry echoed that view with Shamrock Rovers looking to claw back points dropped earlier in the league season as well as preparing for what could be a busy summer across the continental qualifying pathways.
"I'm sure they weighed it up and I'm sure there were conversations about what was going to be best for the club because in Europe you can have a couple of bad draws and you can find yourselves out of competitions quite quickly and the pot of money that they got last year might not be available to them this year," he said.
"On the flipside you have a guaranteed value on Jack's transfer fee if he was to move, so I'm sure it wasn't an easy one.
"Typically Shamrock Rovers have held out for the correct valuation of their players and they just probably didn't feel that they were seeing that [from Charlotte] with Jack this time round.
"He is absolutely pivotal, particularly in Europe if you think about those games. You really need someone to hang onto the ball and just kill a bit of pressure or create a moment of magic and Jack is absolutely that for Shamrock Rovers.
"I think we've seen glimpses of him getting back towards what we saw before he moved to Cyprus. Last year was hampered with injuries and you would just hope that he stays injury-free, that he kicks on and gets back towards those levels."
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