VERSATILE UTRECHT midfielder Barry Maguire looks set to make an overdue first appearance in a Republic of Ireland shirt after being included by Don Givens in the Under-21 squad for the friendly international against Germany in Cork on February 10th.
Maguire has been well regarded in both Dutch and Irish circles for some time having made his name over the course of two seasons at second-tier outfit Den Bosch for whom he played around 70 times before being snapped up by Eredivisie outfit Utrecht.
By then he was an established Dutch underage international but FAI performance director Wim Koevermans, who dealt with him during his time at the Dutch federation, has now played a key part in ensuring he answers an Irish call up.
“I think he can be a good acquisition for us,” says Givens of the 19-year-old Dutch-born player who can also play in defence, “although he still has a bit of time to make up his mind about the future so it’s sort of up to us to make an impression on him.”
When he signed for Utrecht last summer the club’s technical staff, having tracked him for a year and a half, reckoned they had captured one of the country’s leading teenage talents.
“Overall, our scouts and technical staff watched Barry about 15 times and the conclusion was almost unanimous: ‘try to contract him’,” said Piet Buter, the club’s technical director. “We succeeded in contracting one of the biggest talents of the Jupiler League (second division)”.
Evidence of the young player’s physical strength, Buter observed, was provided by the fact he had featured in 95 percent of Den Bosch’s competitive game time during his spell at the club. He has made 15 appearances for the top-flight side so for this season.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD (friendly international v Germany, Turner’s Cross, February 10th, 7.30pm): Redmond (Nottingham Forest), Henderson (Bristol City), Spillane (Norwich City – on loan at Luton Town), Nolan (Preston NE), Lowry (Aston Villa), Moloney (Nottingham Forest), Liddle (Sunderland – on loan at Carlisle Utd); O’Toole (Watford), Gleeson (Wolves), McCarthy (Hamilton Academical), Garvan (Ipswich Town), Maguire (FC Utrecht), Meyler (Sunderland), Judge (Blackburn Rovers), Carey (Celtic); Sheridan (Celtic), Scannell (Crystal Palace), Fagan (unattached).
