Tiernan Lynch keen to enter transfer 'rat race' for ex Portsmouth winger Gavin Whyte

Derry City target Gavin Whyte pictured while at Portsmouth last season.

TIERNAN Lynch admits Derry City is keen to enter the transfer 'rat race' in pursuit of Northern Ireland international Gavin Whyte, claiming he would 'love' to bring his fellow Belfast man to Foyleside.

The newly installed Derry City boss knows the 28 year-old winger well from his time working with him at the Belfast Met Academy as a youngster and believes Whyte has both the 'quality' and 'character' to fit into his ambitious vision for the Candy Stripes.

Lynch understands he will face competition from clubs north and south of the border with rivals Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians among those interested in signing the former Portsmouth winger who left Fratton Park in the summer by mutual consent, the player citing family reasons behind his decision to return home.

There has also been reported interest from Linfield, his former club Crusaders, Larne, Glentoran, Ballymena United and Coleraine after Whyte declared his intention to make a return in a recent interview.

"I want to win trophies and go to a team that can do something special and one that is the right fit for me though I won't rush into anything because it is a big decision," said Whyte who joined Oxford United from Crusaders in 2018 before joining Cardiff City and then Portsmouth.

"Absolutely," responded Lynch when asked if Whyte was on his radar. "Gavin is someone who I've worked with before and have a good relationship with. Yes, 100 percent he's someone we would love to try and bring to Derry City.

"Whether we can get him, whether we can lure him here or can get into that rat race because apparently Rovers are also very interested and I think if you can see the type of money Rovers are throwing around it might come down to finance. I don't know.

"That's the type of quality and type of character we need to be bringing in to give us any type of a chance of challenging.”

Lynch has been busy making contact with members of his squad and while fans may be growing slightly anxious about the lack of transfer activity, the City boss isn’t panicking.

"There's nothing imminent. Lots of conversations, lots of work being done behind the scenes and we're looking forward to the next couple of weeks to hopefully getting a better hold of announcing players and getting players through the door.”