O'Donovan looks certain to join Sunderland

League of Ireland:Sunderland and Cork City were last night in talks over the future of Roy O'Donovan after the 21-year-old striker gave a firm indication that he now believes his future lies in the English north east rather than London.

O'Donovan met Roy Keane on Sunday evening and while nothing concrete was agreed the player did not travel to Fulham where he was due to conclude a deal and undergo a medical yesterday.

The player now looks certain to join Sunderland over the next couple of days although officials from the two clubs involved were still discussing the precise terms of the move.

One difficulty is that contrary to indications from both Fulham and Sunderland before and over the weekend that O'Donovan would be loaned back to the Irish club until the end of the season here after moving, it now seems that such a move would be impractical because of the rules.

The League of Ireland does not allow players to return to a former club in this way for eight weeks after the initial transfer has been completed. If that were to happen, O'Donovan would be missing for August and September after which he would return briefly before being ineligible to play back in England until the January transfer window.

If, on the other hand, Sunderland settle for a pre-contract agreement with the under-21 international then City would be hard pressed to obtain the €450,000, plus significant add-ons that they had agreed with Fulham, from Keane and co. The Irish club would be entitled to closer to half that figure in compensation in the event that the player simply departs when his current deal expires at the end of the campaign.

St Patrick's Athletic manager John McDonnell, meanwhile, has allowed a couple of first team squad players to leave the club ahead of tomorrow's trip to Odense for the second leg of the club's Uefa Cup qualifying round tie. Dave Mulcahy has returned to Waterford United, where he was formerly club captain.

Dundalk have signed 23-year-old Stephen Quigley from St Patrick's Athletic who, like Mulcahy, was transfer listed last week after slipping down the pecking order at Richmond Park.

Also on the way out of Inchicore, at least for the moment, is young defender Noel Haverty who has joined Shelbourne on loan until the end of the season. An under-19 international who can play in a number of different positions, Haverty is expected to be included in his new club's squad for this evening's league game against Kilkenny City.