IRISH DEFENDER RYAN Nolan, once of Inter Milan, has signed for English League Two side Northampton Town. 

Clare-born defender Nolan spent three years at Inter’s academy before briefly dropping down to the fourth tier of Italian football with Arezzo. From there he joined Getafe of Spain in 2020, but in a luckless turn, tore his cruciate ligament on the eve of his first-team debut at the La Liga club. 

He has now signed a contract until the end of next season with a club currently second in League Two, and is set for a loan move out until the end of this season. 

“Ryan is a player who is very much one for the future,” said Northampton manager Jon Brady.

“He is a talented young player who was on a great career path before he suffered an injury but he has been training with us for a few weeks and has done well.

“We see a lot of potential in him and we think, as we have with a number of players, we can develop him further.

“We have taken him on board now and we may look to loan him out in the next few weeks so he can get a regular run of games under his belt as games and regular football is what he needs.

“As his background shows, he is a player with an excellent pedigree and a good upbringing.

“Ryan was in line to make his first team debut for Getafe before he was injured and you can see the potential he has.

“He has really impressed us so we wanted to tie him down ahead of securing him a potential loan move, which might be ideal for him at this stage.”

Nolan has been capped up to U18 level with the Republic of Ireland. 

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