IRISH MIDFIELDER JACK Byrne has signed for Oldham Athletic, the club confirmed today.
The 21-year-old will join the League One outfit on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Wigan Athletic after enjoying a loan spell there this season.
Dubliner Byrne came through the ranks at Manchester City and was highly-rated thanks to his exploits under U19 boss Patrick Vieira, particularly in the Uefa Youth League.
He was farmed out to Dutch side SC Cambuur in 2015 and gained first-team experience playing regularly in the Eredivisie.
However, his next loan move — to Blackburn Rovers — didn’t go well and Wigan Athletic paid an undisclosed fee for him in January 2017. Byrne found game-time hard to come by at the Latics and made just two Championship appearances in the second half of last season.
Oldham offered him the chance to play regularly at the beginning of the current campaign and Byrne has impressed in League One — scoring seven goals and providing five assists in 25 appearances in all competitions.
That short-term deal ended at the start of this month and, despite reported interest from elsewhere, he has returned to Boundary Park permanently.
Ireland U21 international Byrne trained with Martin O’Neill’s senior squad back in 2016 and he will be hoping to play himself into contention over the coming years.
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