Jamie McDonagh set for Derry City exit

Derry City manager Declan Devine has confirmed that winger Jamie McDonagh is free to speak to other clubs  with the Belfast ‘big two ‘- Glentoran and Linfield - leading the chase.
Jamie McDonagh looks set to be leaving the Brandywell in the coming weeks.Jamie McDonagh looks set to be leaving the Brandywell in the coming weeks.
Jamie McDonagh looks set to be leaving the Brandywell in the coming weeks.

The 24-year-old, who played for the Blues at youth team level, has gone down the pecking order since lockdown and didn’t feature at all in last week’s friendly draw at Dundalk.

McDonagh, who has also been linked with a move to Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic, is likely to leave the club later this month and with the Irish League transfer window opening on August 1st, a move to Belfast looks very likely.

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After having a very good 2019 campaign, the Lisburn man was much sought after during the close season and was expected to join Stephen O’Donnell’s Saints, but a last ditch move by the Brandywell men persuaded McDonagh to re-sign for the club.

So having only played four games before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down, Candy Stripes followers will be surprised that Devine is showing him the exit door.

”Things happen for a reason and at the end of the day my outlook on it is, we have made Jamie available for a reason and that’s going to stay in-house,” insisted Devine.

“Now it’s down to what Jamie wants to do in terms of moving forward. I gave Jamie permission to speak to a couple of clubs.

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“At the end of the day the young fella is well within his rights to speak to whoever he wants to speak to, so as I said he has spoken to a couple of clubs and it’s now up to Jamie what decision he wants to make.”

With Tim Nilsen already departed and McDonagh likely to follow suit in the coming weeks, Devine knows he needs to strengthen his squad prior to their July 31st resumption against Sligo Rovers, at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

“We are in the market for the players, there’s no doubt about that, but we have to make sure that they are the right fit and they come within our budget,” added the City boss.

“We are confident that we’ll have a few players in over the coming days and definitely before the start of the campaign.

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“We are working extremely hard behind the scenes to get the right fit.

“The squad is in a good place at the minute in terms of the continuity and the togetherness of the squad."

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