Paul Mannion steps back from Dublin panel for 2021 intercounty season

Paul Mannion has become the latest Dublin footballer to withdraw from the county panel, indicating that he will not be available for this year's intercounty season. Sources close to the team confirmed that the six-time All-Ireland medallist won't be involved whenever the 2021 schedules get up and running.

One of the best forwards in the game in recent years – winning consecutive All Stars from 2017 to 2019 – he wasn’t first choice for Dessie Farrell’s team in last year’s six-in-a-row All-Ireland campaign, having had a delayed return to the panel in the autumn.

Career considerations caused him to miss the 2015 season when he travelled to China for the year but he has played a key role in the five All-Ireland victories since then.

At the time that contemporary Jack McCaffrey suspended his intercounty career last summer – later saying that “the fun had gone out of it” – there had been rumours that Mannion was considering doing likewise for reasons of work but he decided against it.

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It had been assumed that he would regain his place on the Dublin team when the season resumed but Ballymun's Paddy Small held his place all the way through to the All-Ireland final even though Mannion did replace him for the final quarter against Mayo and played very well.

It's not great news for Farrell, as players like McCaffrey, whose intentions for 2021 haven't been made clear but whose imminent return is considered unlikely, and Mannion, both 27, are at the peak of their football years and their withdrawals are not natural conclusions like Michael Darragh Macauley's retirement announced earlier on Thursday.