Glenavon star David Toure could soon be set to take his talents to the international stage after holding initial conversations with Latvia – but it’s understood his full focus remains on helping Paddy McLaughlin’s side end this season on a high before making any final decision.

The 20-year-old has been a star performer for the Lurgan Blues since joining from League of Ireland outfit Shelbourne in January 2024, racking up 43 Premiership appearances to date, including 29 throughout the current campaign.

Toure has previously represented the Republic of Ireland at youth international level but qualifies for Latvia through his mother, who was born in the country.

It presents a prime opportunity for Toure to potentially come up against some of the world’s best players – Latvia took on England in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley last month with the likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford all featuring.

placeholder image — David Toure pictured in action for Glenavon against Linfield earlier this season. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

Latvia currently sit 140th in the FIFA World Rankings – 69 places lower than Northern Ireland – and will next be in action in June when they host Azerbaijan in a friendly.

While Toure is understood to be open to exploring the possibility of representing Latvia and early talks have been held, he’s concentrating on the final four matches of Glenavon’s Premiership campaign.

He’s out of contract at Mourneview Park this summer and no decision has been made on his future at this point, but McLaughlin has previously spoken about his desire to keep both Toure and Len O’Sullivan with the pair offered new deals.

“We want the lads to stay,” McLaughlin told the club’s website. “They have been made good offers.

“The progress they have made since last November is very significant. They have come on in leaps and bounds.

"If they are being advised well, they will decide to stay because they are clearly thriving in this environment. They are both still young lads.

"A few more years at Mourneview Park and the sky’s the limit for them.

“We are very keen to get them on board. They know that.

"They also know that we have ambitions to further improve the squad. Hopefully, they will recognise that it is in their interests to stay, keep improving and let us help them to build solid foundations for their future careers.

“We have some of the best young players in the country. Len and DT are just two of an extremely gifted bunch...we will always give lads like Paul McGovern, Chris Atherton, Harry Lynch, Isaac Baird, Sean Carlin opportunities.

"They bring ability and energy, and supporters want to see them play. Some of them have the potential to become the best in the league in their positions. That is how highly we rate them.”