1. Michael Obafemi
The 23-year-old Dubliner has not got much of a look in since joining Burnley in the last January transfer window. One year on, he has still yet to make a single league start for Vincent Kompany’s side, appearing 12 times from the bench in the Championship last season and twice in the Premier League this year. Obafemi did miss a large portion of the start of this season through injury, but he might need to leave Turf Moor to advance his career.
2. Joe Hodge
Another player who has had a very difficult time with injury, the Ireland U21 captain’s latest setback, a hamstring injury, saw him miss the start of this season. The 21-year-old made 11 appearances for Wolves’ first team last campaign, including six in the Premier League. However, opportunities have been scarce since Gary O’Neil took charge in the summer, with just one League Cup appearance to his name this season. The midfielder is consequently expected to seek a move on loan over the coming month.
3. Andrew Omobamidele
Omobamidele became the second most expensive Irish player ever when he joined Nottingham Forest for €23 million from Norwich on Transfer Deadline Day, but the move has not worked out so far. The 21-year-old has yet to play a minute of action for his new club, with his last competitive appearance coming during Ireland’s 1-1 draw with New Zealand in November. Omobamidele invariably fails to make the matchday squad and that issue has not changed since Nuno Espírito Santo’s recent appointment as manager, so he probably needs a loan to get some much-needed game time.
4. Mark Travers
The 24-year-old impressed in 14 appearances in what was meant to be a season-long loan at Stoke City. However, Travers was recalled early as Bournemouth needed cover on their bench, and so he has not made a league appearance since 25 October. Having proven himself as a strong Championship goalkeeper, you suspect the Maynooth native would not be short of suitors if the Cherries are willing to let him leave again.
5. Greg Cunningham
The 32-year-old Ireland international is very much a squad player at Preston these days. He featured 22 times for the club last season but has made just six appearances in the Championship this term. The Galway native has made nearly 200 appearances for the Lilywhites across two spells but has struggled with injuries in recent times and has made just six appearances this season, the last of which came in October.
6. Ronan Curtis
Curtis has won seven Ireland caps but last appeared for the Boys in Green in 2021. Since then, the 27-year-old has had a terrible run of luck. The former Derry City winger had been one of the first names on the teamsheet with Portsmouth before suffering an ACL injury last season. So, he is now a free agent after 226 appearances and 57 goals for Pompey, having reportedly turned down a heavily reduced contract from the club. After almost a year out of action, the winger recently told The Derry Journal he has had offers from “different clubs,” so expect an announcement soon.
7. Ollie O’Neill
The Ireland U21 international midfielder made 19 appearances when on loan at Derry City last year. Yet O’Neill appears no closer to breaking into Fulham’s first team and he recently suggested, per The Irish Independent, that a League One loan move could be on the cards in January.
8. Alex Murphy
Murphy is clearly highly thought of at Newcastle. The 19-year-old defender already has a Premier League debut under his belt, making an 87th-minute cameo in the 4-1 win over Chelsea last November. It is impressive progress, especially as the teenager only joined the Magpies from Galway in the summer of 2022. Yet regular Premier League football still seems some way off, and so a loan move would certainly aid Murphy, who previously made 31 senior appearances for John Caulfield’s side.
9. Johnny Kenny
The Sligo native had a productive loan spell with Shamrock Rovers last year, scoring five goals from 30 appearances and winning the club’s young-player-of-the-year award. It was the second loan stint of the 21-year-old’s career, having played 12 times for Queen’s Park during the 2022-23 season. Nonetheless, an imminent first-team breakthrough at Celtic appears unlikely, and so the striker may be on the move again in 2024.
10. Tayo Adaramola
The 20-year-old defender is a hot prospect at Crystal Palace — he has already made two senior appearances for the Eagles in the FA Cup. A loan move to Coventry last season proved disappointing amid an injury-hit year, as he made just one senior appearance for the Sky Blues before being recalled. However, the Dublin-born left-back could be set for another temporary switch, with League One side Wigan reportedly interested in signing him for the remainder of the season.
11. James Abankwah
The 19-year-old St Patrick’s Athletic youth product has played two Serie A matches (both last season) since joining Udinese but will be disappointed at how the 2023-24 campaign has panned out thus far. A loan move to Charlton didn’t work out — he made just two appearances in League One before returning to his parent club. Another loan spell may well follow in the coming months, and Abankwah can take inspiration from Irish colleague Festy Ebosele, who has gradually established himself in the Italian side’s starting XI after initially needing to be patient.
12. Josh Keeley
The 20-year-old from Dunboyne secured a dream move from St Patrick’s Athletic to Tottenham in the summer of 2022. Since then, the Ireland U21 goalkeeper has been playing regularly for the North London outfit’s reserve side in Premier League 2. Nevertheless, Keeley is at the point now where he needs regular senior football, and it is unlikely to come at Spurs, with Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster both ahead of him in the pecking order currently.
