IRELAND GOALKEEPER KIERAN O’Hara has left Manchester United on loan once again, this time linking up with League One outfit Burton Albion for the 2019/20 season.
23-year-old O’Hara spent last season on loan at Macclesfield Town in League Two, ending his campaign on a high as he helped Sol Campbell’s Silkmen stay up on the final day.
In doing so, he rounded off a successful stint in which he earned three individual awards: Town’s Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year for 2018/19.
Now, he joins Nigel Clough’s Brewers, where he’ll get a taste of League One football.
“I’m ready to step up to that next level and show that I’m more than capable of climbing the leagues and reaching, hopefully one day, the Premier League,” O’Hara said.
I hope I can play regularly and put in top performances for Burton. If that’s recognised, hopefully that will help me make the next step of becoming a full senior international.
The former Ireland U21 shot stopper has been at Old Trafford since July 2012, shaping his academy career there following a move from Urmston Town.
He signed a professional deal with the Red Devils in the summer of 2014 and has had a couple of loan stints since then, Morecambe the club he plied his trade with before Macclesfield.
In 2017, O’Hara was a regular for the United reserves team and he has featured in some of the first team’s Europa League and Champions League squads over the past few years.
Born in Manchester, he qualifies to don the green of Ireland through his grandparents.
After impressing as the Ireland U21′s trusted shot-stopper, O’Hara was called into the Ireland senior squad as one of eight uncapped players for their March 2018 friendly against Turkey.
He was also included in Mick McCarthy’s 30-man squad for their end-of-season training camp in Portugal in May.
“He had a very good year last season in League Two and he’s ready to make the step up to League One,” Burton Albion manager Clough said of his new signing.
“You look at the scale of Macclesfield’s achievement last year and clearly there must have been some people doing extremely well for them and he was certainly one of them. For them to stay up was incredible and he played a major role in that.
“He will come in feeling confident and with the pedigree of being at Manchester United for a number of years and he fits the bill.
This is the next stage for him, and we want to help him get into the full Republic of Ireland squad as well.
““He was our first choice all along and I’m delighted we have got the deal done.”
United noted in announcing the news: “The temporary move to the Staffordshire outfit has been sanctioned to aid Kieran’s development.”
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