The Republic of Ireland return to action against Hungary at the Aviva Stadium next month and three young Ireland stars will be looking to continue their fantastic seasons once they return from the continent in a green shirt on Tuesday, June 4...

By Conor McEvoy - @reptracker

There is always a feeling of excitement and intrigue amongst Irish fans when an Irish player decides to make the move to a team in mainland Europe. With that, there is a real sense of maturity on the players' side moving outside of their comfort zone to a country where the language is different, the culture is different and the style of football is different. 

Three young Ireland stars, Jake O’Brien, Troy Parrott and Festy Ebosele are thriving in their European environments and I’ve had a look at the data to see how impressive their 2023/24 seasons have been.

Name: Jake O’Brien
Age: 23
Position: Centre Back
Club: Lyon

Having impressed many last season at RWD Molenbeek in the Belgian second tier helping them to promotion, a move to another club on the continent made perfect sense for Jake O’Brien. O’Brien signed for French giants Lyon in August and hasn’t looked back since playing 2667 minutes in all competitions. The 6ft 6 centre half has also chipped in with four goals becoming a fan favourite. The Cork native came into the team in October with “Les Gones” sitting in the relegation zone and has played a huge part in their turnaround as they currently sit 7th just outside the European places on goal difference. A first senior international cap for Jake in June seems very likely.

Name: Troy Parrott 
Age: 22
Position: Striker
Club: Excelsior Rotterdam

One of the feel-good stories of this season has been the coming of age of Troy Parrott. The Belvedere schoolboy was put under immense pressure from Irish fans to be the next big thing when he made the move to Spurs at 16. Like many young strikers, Troy has had to find his feet in men’s football by going out on loan. All of the strikers' loans up until this season were in the EFL and they were all a learning curve for the striker. Last summer, Parrott decided it was time to test himself overseas as he made the move to Rotterdam signing for Excelsior on loan. This season has been by far Troy’s most successful to date scoring 10 goals and assisting four in a struggling Excelsior side. Parrott is now looked as one the best young strikers in the Eredivisie and is attracting interest from all over Europe. He will head into the international break in great form. 

Name: Festy Ebosele 
Age: 21
Position: Wing Back
Club: Udinese

It has taken Festy a season to establish himself in Italy but since the settling in period, the Wexford native has caught the eye of many in Italy. Festy has played 1669 minutes (20 starts) in Serie A this season which is over four times more than last season. Festy has continued to improve on his technical ability to combine with his gifted pace and power. Festy’s ability to beat opponents in 1v1 situations is unmatched and also uses his pace to recover defensively very well, averaging 2.4 balls recovered per game. Despite his youth, Festy has been a regular fixture in the Ireland squad since 2022 and as he continues to develop he could lock down that position for the next 10 years.

Follow Conor on X at @reptracker and watch out for more articles in the future. 

Tickets for the Hungary match are available now from Ticketmaster starting from just €30 as Ireland play their final home match at the Aviva Stadium before the UEFA Nations League campaign begins against England in September.