Northern Ireland U21 star can 'get fans off their seats' after Portsmouth move
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho believes Eoin Kenny “is capable of getting fans off their seats” after winning the race to sign the Northern Ireland U21 striker.
A host of clubs in England and Scotland were interested in acquiring Kenny’s services this summer, but the 20-year-old has opted for a move to Fratton Park, where he’ll join fellow countrymen Terry Devlin and Makenzie Kirk.
Kenny scored 14 goals in 34 league appearances last season for Dundalk as they secured immediate promotion back to the League of Ireland’s Premier Division and netted a further five in the top flight this term alongside providing three assists.
His form has helped put Dundalk in the race for European football – they currently sit fourth, six points adrift of a Conference League position.
Kenny, who is the son of former Republic of Ireland manager Stephen, has pledged his international allegiance to Northern Ireland and featured for Tommy Wright’s side during last month’s friendly defeat to Portugal.
He also started in both of March’s European Championship qualifiers against Germany and Latvia, scoring in the latter.
Kenny has now signed a three-year contract at Pompey after they agreed an undisclosed fee with Dundalk, and boss Mousinho believes the young forward is entering the perfect environment to continue his development.
“We’re delighted to welcome Eoin to the club and I’m excited to see him continue the impressive development he has made over the past few years,” Mousinho told the club’s website. “We feel that he can do exactly that in this environment and has all the attributes you need to succeed in the Championship.
“He’s a young attacking player who is capable of getting fans off their seats with the way he likes to take on opposition defenders.”
Kenny, who was born in Londonderry while his father was managing Derry City, has represented both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland at youth level.
He played twice for Northern Ireland’s U18s alongside the likes of Pierce Charles and Jack Patterson in friendly fixtures against Austria in 2022 under Gerard Lyttle before going on to feature for the Republic of Ireland’s U19s.
However, he declared his allegiance to Northern Ireland last year and was called up by Wright for a European Championship qualification trip to Georgia in September.
Wright said at the time: "Eoin had played originally for the U17s and made it clear he wants to play for Northern Ireland.
"He did extremely well at Dundalk last year and has done well this season.”
Kenny was picked alongside former Linfield duo Braiden Graham and Ceadach O’Neill, who were included in Michael O’Neill’s most recent senior squad for friendlies against Guinea and France.
A move to the Championship will further boost Kenny’s chances of earning further international honours ahead of Northern Ireland’s Nations League campaign, which gets underway with a four-game window across September and October.