Rooney confirms Ebosele is off to Italy

Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Festy Ebosele looks poised for a move to Serie A after Derby County manager Wayne Rooney revealed the Irish player will sign a pre-contract agreement in the coming days.

Ebosele is out of contract with the Rams at the end of the season and is free to sign a pre-contract deal now, with Rooney confirming that expects the player to do so in the coming days.

Festy Ebosele will within the next week sign for a team in Italy," the Derby boss said.

While Rooney did not name the club that the 19-year old is expected to join, it's widely believed to be Serie A outfit Udinese.

Derby are currently is administration and as such are unable to offer a new contract to Ebosele with his current deal expiring in June.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Rooney revealed that he wanted Ebosele to stay and that the player was eager to do so but that they bring prevented from entering into talks due to Derby's financial state.

Reports from Italy claim that the 19-year-old has already undergone a medical with Udinese.

Ebosele will not be the only Irishman joining Udinese this summer with St Patrick's Athletic player James Abankwah also reported to be making the move to Udine this summer.