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Bounemouth youngster Gavin Kilkenny. PA Wire/PA Images
Cherry picked

Ireland U21 midfielder set to commit long-term future to Bournemouth

Dublin teenager Gavin Kilkenny will reportedly sign a new long-term deal with the Premier League club.

IRELAND U21 MIDFIELDER Gavin Kilkenny is set to agree a new long-term deal with AFC Bournemouth.

Local outlet The Daily Echo reports that the 19-year-old Dubliner is in line to be rewarded for his recent exploits as he locks down his future with the Cherries. 

Kilkenny was handed a chance to impress by first-team boss Eddie Howe in a pre-season friendly against Lyon in August, and he did just that with a man-of-the-match performance.

He has further staked his claim at the club, starting in both of Bournemouth’s Carabao Cup fixtures and three Premier League Cup group games for the U21s.

Kilkenny — who has been involved with Stephen Kenny’s Ireland U21s of late — was named in a Premier League squad for the first time in the Cherries’ 3-2 November defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

The St Kevin’s Boys graduate joined the English outfit as a 16-year-old in August 2016.

“I’m 19 now so I wanted to get closer to the first team and I knew it was time to grow up,” Kilkenny recently told FAI TV. “I wanted to knuckle down so I pushed on, got a bit luck and it has paid off.

It’s great really as the club have really backed me and given me the opportunity to impress in pre-season and in the cup as well.

“I’ve made a lot of progress but I’ve not changed too much of what I do anyways. I’m just really enjoying my football at the moment and being part of this squad.”

“If you are with them every day you are only going to improve and you can kind of see that sometimes,” the teenager also said earlier this season, in quotes via The Daily Echo.

“It’s only good, it’s all positive steps in the right direction.”

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