David Sneyd

ARSENAL TECHNICAL DIRECTOR James Ellis will be in attendance for Shamrock Rovers’ FAI Cup semi-final with Kerry FC today.

Part of his trip will entail an informal get together with the Premier League club’s new signing, Victor Ozhianvuna, and his family. Whether he’s treated to a Sunday dinner at their home in nearby Kiltipper – just a few minutes from Tallaght Stadium – before the 6pm kick-off remains to be seen, although Ozhianvuna will not be in Stephen Bradley’s squad at Tallaght Stadium this evening.

The teenager is expected to feature more prominently in 2026 for Rovers after his €2 million transfer to Arsenal was confirmed by both clubs on Friday morning, though. It is a pre-contract agreement for the 16-year-old and is understood to be a record deal for a League of Ireland club that surpasses the up front €1.9m Tottenham Hotspur paid to St Patrick’s Athletic for Mason Melia.

There are numerous important similarities in how those deals transpired – more of which anon – but the reason why Ellis is in Dublin this weekend is not purely for pleasure. There are business connections that Arsenal are keen to cultivate.

During the majority of the Gunners’ courtship of Ozhianvuna, Ellis was the club’s head of recruitment. There was a shift in the power balance at the Emirates Stadium when former sporting director Edu opted to leave in November last year and take up a more senior position within Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ multi-club network.

Jason Ayto had been placed in interim charge before Andrea Berta was confirmed as Edu’s permanent successor. Ellis had been a first-team scout after arriving from Fulham in 2021 but quickly began to rise through the ranks and earlier this summer was appointed to lead the technical department.

Simultaneously, Ozhianvuna was a player who Arsenal had zeroed in on for future development as their scout here, Jimmy Jackson, previously coached the Tallaght youngster in the Rovers academy.

Ellis was one of the primary points of contact on the deal while Arsenal’s head of academy, Per Mertesacker, was also prominent. This move has been three years in the making since a Rovers youth team went to a tournament at the club’s Hale End academy in north London and came out as winners.

Ozhianvuna is an attack minded player who can operate centrally or on the left. He is not yet at the same level as Melia or current teammate Michael Noonan in terms of physicality but that is something that will continue to be worked on with the Republic of Ireland U17 international over the next 14 months.

Ellis built a strong working relationship with Rovers’ independent chairman Ciaran Medlar during negotiations for the transfer, the course of which intensified after that success for the Rovers’ youth team.

The Hoops’ sporting director, Stephen McPhail, had also been crucial to the relationship, while head coach Stephen Bradley and the player’s agent, Graham Barrett, also have links to Arsenal as former players.

Ellis will be in Tallaght to continue to build on a burgeoning partnership that might not be formal in nature but is understood to be one which Arsenal are keen on strengthening even further.

Some of their most famous names – Liam Brady, Pat Jennings, David O’Leary, Frank Stapleton – are from these shores. The Irish market has, of course, changed due to Brexit rules and that is why Ozhianvuna has had to sign a pre-contract agreement before joining once he turns 18 in January 2027.

Changes to Fifa statutes when it comes to protecting minors also means the days of talented teenagers from this country going on numerous trials at clubs throughout Britain is also a thing of the past.

A minor can now only visit two different clubs in one calendar year and, as a result, more of an emphasis will be put on club-to-club relationships to allow numerous teams – rather than just individuals – visit.

That’s one of the reasons why Ozhianvuna and his teammates were at that all-important Hale End tournament, and he hasn’t been the only one who Arsenal took a closer look at as Joel McPhail – son of Stephen – and Desmond Armstrong – younger bother of Ireland international Sinclair – also caught the eye.

Rovers boss Bradley was scathing about some agents “brainwashing” families into accepting moves to Europe before they are 18. Ozhianvuna had already signed a professional contract with Rovers ahead of this season and there was no buyout clause inserted.

That helped when Belgium’s Champions League representatives Club Brugge came on the scene to try and entice the player away. Crucially, Ozhianvuna and his parents bought into the vision of development that had been laid out to them by Rovers.

The chance to work in a professional environment and continue the required physical/tactical improvements at a club playing in the league phase of the Uefa Conference League barely 10 minutes from the family home was a no brainer.

Rovers understood the player’s potential, not to mention value, and were able to earn the trust of the family to play their part in helping to realise it.

That is where the similarities in alignment of key parties is so striking with Melia’s move to Spurs from St Pat’s. Like Ozhianvuna, when he signed his professional contract with the Saints before the 2023 FAI Cup final there was no buyout clause. That is one of the reasons why Everton also had a seven-figure bid rejected for the young forward.

Overall, if the respective add-ons of both transfers are activated then around €8m will be split evenly between the two Dublin clubs. Rovers also have a sell-on clause believed to be in the region of 20%, while the director of football at Richmond Park, Ger O’Brien, negotiated two sell-on clauses as part of the Melia deal.

They are the unknown elements at the back end of two transfer deals that have completely changed the landscape – and expectation – when it comes to upfront fees for the best League of Ireland talent eventually moving on to pastures new.

It is not a coincidence that St Pat’s and Rovers were able to get maximum value as the players, their families, advisors and clubs were all on the same page in plotting a course forward together.

The timing of the Ozhianvuna announcement also serves to reinforce one of the core principles of self-sustainability within the League of Ireland’s Academy Investment Proposal that was submitted to Government ahead of Tuesday’s Budget.

At the moment, Melia and Ozhianvuna are outliers in the transfer market here, but should further financial backing stimulate growth in player development then the kind of alignment shown by by Pat’s and Rovers should become commonplace across the board.

And by that stage Arsenal will also likely be in a strong position to benefit.