Shelbourne leading chase to land Dundalk ace - with Damien Duff also keen to secure outgoing Shamrock Rovers man

SHELBOURNE are hopeful they can fend off competition to land Ryan O’Kane after Dundalk’s drop.

Shels have re-signed key players who helped them to pip Shamrock Rovers to the league title but have yet to add to their squad.

2 O'Kane during's September's match-up with St Patrick's Athletic at Oriel Park

2 Duff has the carrot of Champions League football to attract new players this off-season

The latest players to pen new deals are midfielder JJ Lunney and final-day goal hero and fellow midfielder Harry Wood.

Front man Evan Caffrey will also return in 2025.

Reds target O’Kane, 21, got his first taste of senior football with Warrenpoint Town as a 16-year-old but joined his hometown club in 2021 after a stint with Cliftonville.

The winger has scored ten goals and provided ten assists in 109 appearances — most of them off the bench — for the Lilywhites, who yesterday confirmed former Bohs women’s team manager Ken Kiernan as Ciarán Kilduff’s assistant.

O’Kane has options but Reds chief Damien Duff hopes the lure of Champions League football will prove key.

O’Kane is not the only possible new arrival although they may face competition from St Pat’s for Richie Towell, who is on his way out of Rovers.

Bohs have brought in Derry City striker Colm Whelan and Sligo Rovers midfielder Niall Morahan but have a number of other targets.

They include their ex-wide man Daniel Kelly, another Dundalk player John Mountney and Kerry forward Ryan Kelliher.

After breaking through at Bray Wanderers, Kelly spent the second half of the 2018 campaign at Bohs before five years at Dundalk prior to joining Derry last season.

He has a year left on his contract but has had difficulties settling, with his girlfriend still living in Dublin.

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Mountney, 31, has spent all but one of the past 13 seasons at Oriel Park but his future is up in the air too following Dundalk’s relegation and drastic reduction in budget.

As with Kelly, Bohs boss Alan Reynolds worked with the versatile Mountney during his spell as assistant manager at Dundalk.

Kelliher, 23, has bagged 23 goals in 65 First Division appearances for Kerry since they joined the League of Ireland.

He alerted Reynolds to his talents with both goals in a drawn FAI Cup tie which the full-timers won on penalties.

But Galway United are keen and he has admirers north of the border too.

The Gypsies are hoping to wrap up a deal for St Pat’s winger Alex Nolan.

The 21-year-old impressed off the bench against them in the 2022 FAI Cup final but managed only seven league starts last season, with Jake Mulraney and summer signing Zach Elbouzedi Stephen Kenny’s favoured wing men.

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