LAST UPDATE | 5 Jan

FORMER IRELAND U21 international Finn Azaz completed his transfer from Aston Villa to Middlesbrough on Friday, agreeing a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Championship outfit.

Villa and Middlesbrough meet in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening but Azaz, 23, will not be eligible to make his debut against his former club.

Azaz moves for an undisclosed transfer fee, reported to be £2.5 million (€2.9m) by The Athletic earlier this week.

The attacking midfielder has been on loan at Plymouth Argyle since the summer of 2022, helping them to gain promotion to the Championship, where he has already scored seven goals this season.

His sole Ireland U21 cap came in September 2022 in the second leg of the European Championship qualification play-off defeat to Israel. 

“I’m delighted to bring Finn to the club,” Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick said.

“He’s an exciting player who already comes with good experience. He’s [had] a good season so far, and we’re really looking forward to working with him.”

Meanwhile, former Bohemians midfielder Dawson Devoy has joined League Two side Swindon Town on loan from MK Dons. 

Devoy is a highly-rated central midfielder who was integral to Bohemians’ run to the FAI Cup final and through the qualifying rounds of the Uefa Conference League in 2021, winning PFAI Young Player of the Year at the end of that season.

He subsequently joined MK Dons, where he made 34 appearances in League One across a season in which the club were relegated. He has struggled for game time this season and has played less than 70 minutes of first-team league games since last September.

Devoy — capped seven times for Ireland at U21 level — has now joined fellow League Two side Swindon on loan until the end of the season. Swindon are 16th in League Two, six points behind MK Dons in eighth place. 

Darragh Burns, who joined MK Dons from St Patrick’s Athletic in the same summer as Devoy, recently returned to Ireland, signing on loan for Shamrock Rovers. 

Elsewhere in League Two, former Ireland U21 international Jim O’Brien has been placed in caretaker charge of high-flying Notts County, as their manager Liam Williams today took charge at Championship club Swansea. O’Brien is still playing with Notts County and is the club’s longest-serving player, joining in 2019. 

In addition, St Patrick’s Athletic have announced the signing of Marcelo Pitaluga on loan from Liverpool.

The 21-year-old Brazilian goalkeeper joined the Reds from Fluminese in 2020.

In 2022, he made 16 appearances on loan at Macclesfield in the eighth tier of English football before that stint was cut short owing to an ankle injury.

Pitaluga has appeared on the bench seven times for Jurgen Klopp’s side and the club announced a contract extension for the player on the same day his latest move was confirmed.

He follows in the footsteps of fellow Liverpool goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros, who enjoyed an impressive loan spell with the Dublin club in 2021.

Finally, Drogheda United have announced the signing of 18-year-old forward Killian Cailloce.

The youngster returns to Ireland having spent the last 18 months playing for SM Caen in France.

Before making the move abroad, Cailloce joined Drogheda in 2020 and became the youngest player ever to feature for the club when he made his league debut against Sligo Rovers in March 2022.

“Over in France, I was in a full-time environment, in the academy and I was with the reserve team too, getting experience with senior players,” he said following the move. “It was a big difference, training every day. I think my game has grown in all aspects.

“When you train every day, you grow. Moving to a different country too, it isn’t just in football you learn but outside of football too.

“I’ve been back home for a month now. I really enjoyed my time previously at Drogheda and made my debut here when I was 16 so I’m delighted to be back.” 

– Additional reporting by Niall Kelly and Paul Fennessy