While there is a growing sense of urgency about improving the pathways for young Irish footballers, one thing that is not in doubt is the raw talent on this island.
The example of Mason Melia stands out with the 17-year-old St Patrick's Athletic striker long confirmed for a big money move to Tottenham Hotpsur next January.
One of the next cabs off the rank is expected to be Shamrock Rovers' Victor Ozhianvuna.
Last week, Hoops manager Stephen Bradley confirmed that overseas interest in the 16-year-old is genuine, with Premier League giants Arsenal reported to be the club heading the queue.
Like Melia, the current Brexit rules would preclude Ozhianvuna from officially joining any British clubs until he turns 18 in the January 2027 transfer window, although a pre-contract is possible.
The Republic of Ireland U-17 international has made eight appearances off the bench for Shamrock Rovers this campaign including in the season opener against Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium in March and the UEFA Conference League play-off second leg against Molde, gaining widespread praise internally and externally for those cameos.
One person who is not surprised at Ozhianvuna's emergence is former Rovers midfielder Richie Towell who spoke about the youngster's potential on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"The sky is the limit for someone like Victor to be honest," he said, "I remember he came up to train with us last year and he was only a little boy.
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
"He looked like a little boy, he was small in stature and I was thinking, 'What's going on here? This kid could get hurt coming up to train with us'.
"And straight away you see his bit of quality. Players like him in Irish football, we don't have many of them - special, special talents.
"I'd love to see him get a little bit more game-time for Shamrock Rovers. We've seen glimpses and I think if Shamrock Rovers play him a little bit more, his value will increase even moreso.
"Because you see the likes of Michael Noonan, he is getting some more game-time, so I'd really love Victor to get out onto the pitch and show what he can do because he's a really special talent.
"He travels with the ball really well. He can create things and as I said, in Irish football we're kind of missing players like that, so for us to have someone like him to come through in the future is a big, big bonus."
On the podcast, Towell and former Republic of Ireland winger Keith Treacy both reflected on why they chose Celtic and Blackburn respectively when they were leaving Irish shores despite interest from other clubs.
But Treacy - a lifelong Arsenal supporter - also preached patience especially in light of the fact that Ozhianvuna can't move to the UK for almost two years.
"This is a big, big pat on the back for Ozhianvuna, some of the best clubs within Europe and the UK coming looking at him," he said.
"It's a big pat. It's a nod that you're on the right track, people are liking what you're doing but this is by no means 'there you are, you've made it, you're the player that you've always wanted to be, now take it easy'.
"This is when the hard work starts and I'm always worried about young lads when Arsenal, Roma, these teams start getting thrown at them, because it's very easy to go away with the fairies in this modern day of social media.
"So for me, let your agent, let Stephen Bradley, let your mother and father all deal with that - and you can have your input if you're an Arsenal fan in the background or a Roma fan, wherever he might want to go to, that's no problem - but in the meantime, knuckle down, worry about the session that you have today or tomorrow with Shamrock Rovers, worry about breaking into the Shamrock Rovers team; go and do the deal, do all that, no problem in the background. But it's the here and now that worries me.
"Yeah, it's a big, big pat on the back and the likes of Cathal O'Sullivan, Mason Melia, Noonan, there's so many great young talents within the league now.
"And I remember 18 months ago, Damien Duff saying, 'Look, we're all going to have to get on the same wavelength and start making other teams pay proper amounts for our young talents', and thankfully now it seems everybody's got to that level that we're not going to let them go for peanuts anymore, and the league will go from strength to strength because of it."
Watch the Champions League semi-final, Barcelona v Inter Milan, on Wednesday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
