MANCHESTER CITY youngster Liam Delap has joined Preston on loan until the end of the season.

Son of former Ireland international Rory Delap, the 19-year-old has represented England at underage level.

However, speaking in 2021, Irish boss Stephen Kenny did not rule out a switch of allegiance for the player, telling reporters: “I don’t like discussing individual cases with players, but yeah we are [in contact]. It is somebody we are very aware of.

“Going back a few years Colin O’Brien with the U17s indicated some interest and up to recently Jim Crawford’s U21s.

“Liam has a proud tradition in that his dad Rory represented Ireland with great distinction. He is a good prospect, but he is part of the England setup at the moment and we have to respect that.”

Meanwhile, his father Rory told The Irish Independent: “He has spoken to a couple of people but he’s at the stage where there was no real debate, and I would never put pressure on him to make a choice either way.”

The youngster, who has made six senior appearances for City including games in the Premier League and Champions League, spent the first half of this season on loan at Stoke City, scoring three goals from 23 appearances in all competitions.

Before then, he was the 2020-21 Premier League 2 Player of the Year with 24 goals in 20 appearances for City — form that helped earn him a senior debut, as he scored on his first-team bow against Bournemouth in the EFL Cup.

Speaking after joining the Lilywhites, he told the official club website: “I’m buzzing. It’s such a great club and I’m really excited to meet the boys and play in front of the fans.

“As a striker at the end of the day, the manager wants goals so that’s what he’s said to me.

“I trust myself in front of goal. I trust myself to get in the right positions so if I get the opportunity then hopefully I can bring that.”

Delap could be in line for a debut on Saturday when Preston host Norwich City and manager Ryan Lowe added:

“Liam was one we targeted in the summer because of the work he’d done with City’s U23s and he had some input in the first team with a couple of goals, too.

“He’s a good lad, a good footballer, and a goalscorer. He just needs an opportunity to score goals and hopefully, we can give him that.

“Obviously we’re going to be without Emil [Riis] for a long period now too, so we felt we needed to bring an extra body into the building to continue the form we’ve had.”

Delap joins a club with a substantial Irish contingent — Troy Parrott, Tom Cannon, Alan Browne, Greg Cunningham, Robbie Brady and Sean Maguire are all currently on the books at Deepdale, while Josh Seary is out on loan at Warrington Town.

Elsewhere, St Patrick’s Athletic have announced the signing of Estonia international Vladislav Kreida from Flora on a season-long loan in a deal subject to international clearance.

In addition to 90 appearances for his parent club, the 23-year-old midfielder previously spent time on loan at Helsingborgs IF (Sweden), Veres Rivne (Ukraine) and Skovde AIK (Sweden)

Kreoda, who has helped Flora win the Estonian Premier League on three occasions, has also won 21 caps for his country, making his debut in a Euro 2020 qualifying defeat away to Germany.

And finally, in other League of Ireland news, Kerry FC have confirmed the promotion of Nathan Gleeson and Junior Ankomah to the senior squad.

The pair previously both worked with manager Billy Dennehy, playing for Kerry at U17 and U19 level.