Soccer

Mason Melia smashes LOI transfer record to join Tottenham from St Pat’s

Irish teenager to join Spurs for reported €1.9 million initial fee

Mason Melia will join Spurs in the January 2026 transfer window. Photograph: Evan Treacy/Inpho
Mason Melia will join Spurs in the January 2026 transfer window. Photograph: Evan Treacy/Inpho
Gavin Cummiskey
Tue Feb 04 2025 - 20:16

Mason Melia has smashed the League of Ireland record transfer fee after Tottenham Hotspur agreed a deal with St Patrick’s Athletic owner Garrett Kelleher, initially worth €1.9 million, to bring the teenage striker to London in January 2026 on a five-year contract.

Under Brexit laws, Melia cannot move to a UK club until he turns 18 on September 22nd, which is after the summer window.

Crucially for St Pat’s aim to capture a Premier Division title in 2025, the Wicklow native will remain at Richmond Park this season.

During negotiations which lasted several months, Kelleher secured considerable add-on fees for when Melia reaches an agreed number of international caps and if Tottenham sell him in the future.

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Shamrock Rovers are believed to have banked €3 million after Gavin Bazunu’s €14-million move from Manchester City to Southampton in 2022, but Melia’s landmark deal should generate significantly more profit for St Pat’s.

The record League of Ireland fee was previously held by Liam Scales, who moved to Celtic from Rovers for €600,000 in 2021.

“There has been a lot of interest in Mason from the UK and Europe over the last number of years and our chairman (Kelleher) has been negotiating this deal for a number of months,” said Ger O’Brien, St Pat’s sporting director. “It’s a record transfer fee for a League of Ireland player and something the club is proud of.”

Kelleher, a property developer who took over the club in 2007, recently secured Stephen Kenny on a five-and-a-half year contract.

Melia excelled under the former Republic of Ireland manager’s guidance last year, scoring six goals in 31 league appearances.

He also performed on the European stage with a robust 90 minutes against Turkish side Basaksehir, aged 16, before a back complaint denied him caps for Jim Crawford’s Ireland under-21s.

“I’ve personally not had it as a manager, someone so young who has come in and done so well,” said Kenny after the 0-0 draw with Basaksehir in Tallaght.

“Mason is a terrific talent with an exceptional attitude and a real appetite for hard work,” Kenny added last night. “His pressing out of possession is phenomenal and his pace offers a real threat and adds a dimension to our attacking play. His hold up play has been his greatest improvement over the last six months as his continues to develop physically.

“First and foremost he is a goalscorer, he scored some brilliant goals last season, and different types of goals and has shown a capacity to play anywhere along the front three.”

Last month Tottenham sought to see off interest from Celtic, Everton, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and the German Bundesliga by bringing Melia to the London derby against Chelsea.

The move continues a strong link between Spurs and Irish centre forwards with Robbie Keane scoring 112 goals across two stints at White Hart Lane between 2002 and 2011. Troy Parrott was tipped to follow in Keane’s footsteps but the 23-year-old is currently at Dutch club AZ Alkmaar following five seasons largely spent out on loan at English Championship sides.

League of Ireland fans will be delighted to learn that Tottenham have not sought a higher level of football for Melia in 2025. Club owners, the ENIC Group, previously had stakes in Slavia Prague, AEK Athens, and FC Basel, but a switch to a European league is not expected for Melia, possibly as St Pat’s have Uefa Conference League qualifiers in July.

Mason Melia in action for Ireland against Wales in the European Under-17 Championships in 2023. Photograph: Nikola Kristic/Inpho
Mason Melia in action for Ireland against Wales in the European Under-17 Championships in 2023. Photograph: Nikola Kristic/Inpho

Melia’s physicality and rapid climb up the underage ranks have drawn comparisons with Evan Ferguson, who avoided Brexit rules when leaving Bohemians for Brighton in 2021. While Ferguson made an astonishing debut for Bohs against Chelsea aged just 14, Melia became the League of Ireland’s youngest goalscorer in June 2023 at 15 years and 281 days old.

That summer he looked a cut above most defenders at the under-17 Euros in Hungary before Ireland were knocked out in the quarter-finals by a Spanish team that included Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

St Pat’s secured Melia to a three-year contract in November 2023.

“We are delighted to agree a deal with Tottenham Hotspur for Mason Melia,” said O’Brien. “When we recruited Mason in 2022 we knew we had signed an incredible talent. We had watched his development with St Joseph’s Boys and Bray Wanderers for a number of years.

“He has been fantastic during his three years at the club, and we’re delighted for Mason that he’ll be making the move to the Premier League early next year.

“Everyone at the club is proud of Mason, it was special to see him come on to the St Pat’s winning team in 2023, where he became the youngest ever player to play in an FAI Cup final.”

O’Brien also paid tribute to Melia’s parents, Martin and Pamela, and his agent, uncle and former Ireland international Clive Clarke “for his help and professionalism throughout the process.”

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent