Dundalk appear to have found a real gem in Daniel Cleary.
Although he only celebrates his 22nd birthday in March, there was a lot of hype surrounding Daniel Cleary when he signed for Dundalk.
He spent five years with Liverpool and was on the cusp of the first team squad during Brendan Rodgers's reign. However, once Jurgen Klopp took over, he fell down the pecking order. The centre-back moved to Birmingham City in the summer of 2016 but, once again, found himself unable to break into the senior squad and after a loan spell away, he opted to return home to Ireland.
The former Irish underage international had been
on trial at Shamrock Rovers and was expected to seal a deal bringing him to Tallaght Stadium outfit, but Dundalk snapped him up in a move that has already paid off.
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Hitting the ground running
Cleary played a significant role in Dundalk's unbeaten start to the SSE Airtricity Premier Division season. The Lilywhites have one victory and two draws in the league in February. They kept a clean sheet for all three fixtures.
After being an unused substitute in the season's goalless opener against Bray Wanderers, Cleary settled in the first team for the 0-0 draw to Shamrock Rovers and the 8-0 hammering of Limerick City during Storm Emma.
He impressed so much in both fixtures that he's already up for an award in the League of Ireland's top flight. He is among the six nominees for February's player of the month accolade.
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Dundalk will be hoping this will be the first of many nominations for Cleary. His promising start bodes well for more success in the future.
