Ireland first tried to snatch Celtic star Mikey Johnston from Scotland six years ago - and finally look to have convinced the Scot to switch allegiances.
The 23-year-old is on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes and has impressed in Portugal, helping his club to challenge for the European spots in the Primiera Liga this term. That form has caught the eye of Stephen Kenny who has reportedly convinced Johnston to join the Ireland set-up with the FIFA paperwork close to being completed.
Johnston is reportedly being considering for his first call up in the double-header with Latvia and France this month, after Kenny travelled to Portugal this week with the intention of watching Johnston as he came off the bench against Braga. However, it's not the first time a move has been made to move the Scotland U21 cap away from the Scotland camp. Johnston qualifies through his grandparents and made his Scotland debut ten years ago as a 13-year-old in Scotland Under 15s 4-3 defeat in Switzerland.
He would go on to make eight appearances for the U21s but has yet to earn a senior cap. Scotland U21s boss Scot Gemmill was first quizzed about Johnston's possible switch to Ireland ahead of the 2017 Toulon Tournament which Johnston missed through a groin injury.
And back then Johnston made clear he wanted to commit to Scotland, as Gemmill confirmed ahead of the France tournament six years ago. He said: "The thing with Mikey is that he has been involved in the Scotland set-up for a long time.
"I can remember him travelling with the Under-15s to Switzerland. It was my first trip as a national youth team coach and I don’t think there’s any question he wants to play for Scotland.
"I have never felt it necessary to speak to him about it. He deserves unbelievable credit for playing in the first team with Celtic."
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