'He's got a bag of tricks' - Declan Devine excited by arrival of ex-Liverpool youth Adam Hammill

The City boss knows all about the talented former Liverpool youth from his time as assistant manager at Dunfermline in 2007 alongside current Ireland supremo, Stephen Kenny.

Hammill went on to carve out an impressive career at the top level in England and became a ‘cult hero’ at Barnsley where he scored a wonder goal in the club’s Championship playoff victory over Millwall in 2016.

The Liverpudlian has signed with the Candy Stripes until the end of the 2020 SSE Airtricity League campaign and Devine believes the club were fortunate to secure his signature.

“To be honest, I think if League One and League Two were still going ahead I don’t think we would’ve had an opportunity to bring Adam to the club,” said Devine.

“He was a bit of an unknown at Dunfermline,” he recalled. “Stephen (Kenny) sent down to watch him with Liverpool U23s when he was 19. He came up and absolutely tore it up for us.

“He went on to have an amazing career. He played x amount of Premier League games with Wolves and scored a rocket in the playoffs final to get Barnsley up to the Championship

“He’s a cult hero at Barnsley. He was a pleasure to speak to. We spoke to him one day and he was in the town the next day. So there’s a lot of positives.”

Devine, who is hoping to add another three new signings to his squad before next week’s home clash with Sligo Rovers, expects Hammill to excite the City fans.

“He absolutely loves playing football and entertaining. He’s got a bag of tricks and we obviously know each other for a long time. Whenever myself and Paddy (McCourt) spoke with him it was a no-brainer.

"He was here in a heartbeat and that’s exactly what you want - a player showing an appetite to come and play here and a player who really wants to enjoy playing football in what is the later years of his career.

“He has a fantastic appetite for the game and will be able to help us here with our young players in terms of helping them develop.

“Anybody watching those live streams of the games will hopefully get a lot of enjoyment out of watching him play.”He can play anywhere. He can play in midfield, he can play No.10, he can play off the left, off the right, centre forward.

“So it’s a real good addition for us and he’s a player who certainly wouldn’t be in Ireland if League One of League Two hadn’t been shutdown.”

Devine is hoping to hit the ground running against Sligo next weekend and is confident he will have made some additional top quality signings before then.

“I think we will get another three players in this week and the people I’m looking at and those were talking to will excite people if that’s the case.

“Possibly over the weekend or by the start of next week.

“We’re looking at making a real impact when we get back and while there’s a lot of players who are under our radar, we will make sure the right ones come in.”