Damien Duff says that while Mason Melia's landmark transfer Tottenham Hotspur is 'brilliant' for St Pat's and the League of Ireland, the Shelbourne manager has warned that the teenager could be playing 'catch-up' when he arrives at the Premier League club aged 18.
The main topic of conversation on everyone's lips at the League of Ireland launch at the Mansion House in Dublin was the record-breaking transfer of 17-year old Mason Melia to Tottenham Hotspur.
Some 46 years after the late Trevor Francis became the first million pound player in England - though Brian Clough always claimed the deal was one pound short of that - Melia is the first League of Ireland player to be transferred for in excess of one million euros.
While Melia was not Duff's player, he acknowledges it's a good development for the league and he will be intrigued to watch his progress as an Ireland fan.
"It looks great yeah, I guess that's the benefit of having him stay until he's 18. If he went at 15 of 16 he's probably going for five or six figures, not seven figures.
"It's brilliant for him, brilliant for St Pat's financially, and I guess brilliant exposure for the league. I'll be intrigued to see how he gets on."
However, Duff offers a word of caution, adding that Melia may be playing 'catch-up' with his peers across the water, in that he has to wait until 18 before joining an elite coaching set-up.
The Brexit rules stipulate that players outside the UK cannot sign to English clubs until they turn 18, meaning Melia's departure has been paused until 1 January 2026.
Duff contrasts this with his experience as a teenager, having joined Blackburn Rovers as a 16-year old.
"It's the Catch 22 of this rule, going away to England, he has stayed here and got first team exposure and we have kept the best players here.
"But at the same time, he has missed two or three years at an elite (club), one of the biggest clubs in the world, so there are pros and cons for everything.
"He will be going to Spurs at 18 and I will be supporting him as a League of Ireland fan, as an Irish fan, but if you call a spade a spade, he is playing catch up.
"The standout with Mason is that he's physically a beast and has been like that for quite a few years.
"I'd imagine he's not going into 18s or 20s, he's going into the first team so let's see what you've got.
"I was training with Blackburn Rovers first team when I was 16 and he will be training when he's 18. I have two years on him, so that's the downside."
While the new Brexit dispensation may have seen Pat's secure a windfall on this occasion, Duff still reckons players here are missing out overall.
"You can talk about it all day long, it is what it is. All I can speak of is my experience. I went to England at 16, granted it's an awful long time ago, and I wouldn't change it.
"I went and lived at the training ground, literally, for two years until I was 18 and probably touched the football more than any kid in the world - training two or three times a day and a night time I was down at the astro playing. I lived it.
"There was nothing in my way. Life is different now. Looking back at it now, would I have been happy going at 18? No I was happy the way I did it and that's it."
