Derry complete signing of UCD's Colm Whelan

Derry City have won the race to sign UCD striker Colm Whelan, bringing the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 player to the Ryan McBride Brandywell on a two-year contract.

The 22-year-old was prolific during his time with the Students, netting 44 times in 66 games, before a cruciate ligament injury brought his maiden Premier Division campaign to an early end in the summer.

Prior to the injury a host of clubs were tracking Whelan, including Shamrock Rovers and League 1 side Lincoln City.

He is expected to be fit for the new season as he links up with the FAI Cup holders.

City boss Ruaidhri Higgins is thrilled to get his man: "We are delighted to welcome Colm to the club.

"He is a player with an extremely bright future in the game.

"He has a lot of games under his belt at such a young age and has a fantastic goalscoring record.

"The staff and I are really excited to get working with Colm and helping him develop further at Derry City."

Whelan was a spectator as City won the Cup, seeing enough to convince him his future was with this season's league runners-up.

He said: "I watched the FAI Cup final and was really impressed by what Derry and their fans did that weekend.

"I've only played once at the Brandywell so far - a 7-1 defeat - so I'll have to make sure there are many better nights than that one.

"I can't wait to get started and can promise supporters a lot of hard work and hopefully a lot of goals "

It's another blow to UCD after fellow striker Tommy Longeran joined St Patrick's Athletic, leaving Andy Myler light on options in attack for the 2023 campaign.