Mick McCarthy to speak with Patrick Bamford

Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has revealed he will be having a chat with Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford about the possibility of playing for the Boys in Green.

McCarthy was recently reappointed as ROI boss – 16 years after finishing his first stint as the country’s manager – and the former Ipswich Town chief is currently in the process of looking at which players qualify to represent Ireland.

Leeds striker Bamford, who made the switch to Elland Road in the summer from Middlesbrough on a four-year contract, is eligible for selection through his maternal grandmother and turned out for the Under-18s before switching to England.

The 25-year-old represented the Three Lions at U-18, U-19 and U-21 level, but he has never made the step up to the senior team and looks to be out of Gareth Southgate’s thinking right now.

With Ireland struggling for options in attack, McCarthy has now confirmed he will be talking to Bamford about the possibility of representing the ROI for the rest of his career.

“I have asked about him, I’ve asked about lots of players like I normally do,” he was quoted as saying by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “My intention is to speak to Patrick. He does qualify.

“He is a terrific goalscorer, Patrick. He’s played against my teams. He just puts the ball in the net and you can’t have enough of those.”Ireland, who have been drawn in Euro 2020 qualifying Group D alongside Denmark, Switzerland, Georgia and Gibraltar, are a massive 151.00 to win the tournament in two years’ time.