STEPHEN BRADLEY HAS delivered a powerful rebuke to those people he believes are “brainwashing” parents and young Irish players into leaving for European clubs before they are ready.

On the day that Arsenal set a new transfer record with a €2 million fee for Victor Ozhianvuna, the Shamrock Rovers boss highlighted that agreement and the one that St Patrick’s Athletic thrashed out with Tottenham Hotspur for Mason Melia as the blueprints for future deals.

Ozhianvuna has signed a pre-contract with the Premier League club that will begin when he turns 18 in January 2027.

It is a four-and-a-half year deal and comes despite attempts from Belgium’s Champions League representatives Club Brugge to sign the 16-year-old immediately.

“The family trusts us. So as a club, he could have went to any club at 16 around Europe. I think they’ve shown us the respect,” Bradley said.

“They’ve trusted us as a club and in return, we make him a better player before he goes. We expose him to different challenges, different environments and he gets a record-breaking move.

“If that and Mason aren’t the template for young players in this country, I don’t know what it is. You go for X amount of money, which Victor’s gone for, straight away you’re respected when you’re in the building.

“Straight away, you’re seen in a different light and your abilities are seen in a different light. These days, I can’t believe some agents have fallen back into that and we’re allowing it to happen.

“Parents are being brainwashed by having to go to Europe at 16. It’s nonsense. It’s absolutely nonsense. Being sold a dream. It’s a conversation for a different day but I’ve had so many players that have left there at 16 ringing me the last few months. Can we meet for a coffee? Can we come in and train? The parents ringing me, can we try help them again, fix them.

“When they left there was a big media circus around it all. If that’s not a clear picture of what’s right and what’s wrong, I don’t know what is. This sending players out at 16 is nonsense.”

Bradley did not reference any players in particular but was keen to emphasise his point on allowing talented youngster develop until at least 18 or a time when they are ready to meet the demands placed on them.

“It’s really, really poor. They’re getting really poor advice, the large majority. Really poor advice.

“It’s everything. They’ve just swapped England for Europe. Then you throw in the language barrier to a different type of league. It becomes a whole different problem. People are getting excited because of European names.

“It’s the exact same as what we were doing at 15. And it’s wrong. Like I said, there’s too many agents just looking to push players at the first opportunity out of this country. It’s the wrong move.”

On Ozhianvuna’s potential and the significance of the deal coming so soon after Spurs paid St Pat’s upwards of €1.9m for Melia, Bradley added: “It’s the biggest deal now that it’s broke the record again, which is great for Irish football as a whole. It shows what can be achieved.

“Obviously, he’s a special talent. He’s a special boy. It shows that teams around Europe are starting to respect Irish football in terms of the fees. It doesn’t mean every player is going to go for that. That’s not going to be the case. But it’s showing us where we can go in that direction.

“He (Ozhianvuna) is going to be exposed a lot more over the next 12 to 14 months. He’ll get a lot of experience and he’ll improve. Then he’s ready to go.

“I think there’s so much trust from him and his family towards us, which we really appreciate. I think it shows a clear path. Gavin [Bazunu] did it years ago. I think this has shown a clear path in terms of the trust and what can be achieved. I don’t agree with these boys moving at 16 to Europe. I don’t think they’re ready in every aspect.”