Rory Finneran: Profile, playing style, scouting report

Published at :April 22, 2024 at 2:25 PM

Modified at :April 22, 2024 at 2:26 PM

(Courtesy : Blackburn Rovers)

The youngster recently created history as he became Blackburn’s youngest-ever debutant

Rory Finneran is an Irish player who plays for Blackburn Rovers, he is a left-footed defensive midfielder, Finneran joined the Blackburn Rovers academy at eight years old. He was named among the match-day squad for Blackburn in the EFL Championship against Bristol City in December 2023 but was an unused substitute.

He also created history as he became Blackburn’s youngest-ever debutant at 15 years, 10 months and eight days as he played in the third round of the FA Cup against Cambridge United. He is already a superstar for the youth international team and one of the best young players currently for Ireland.

Past Experience

He played for Ireland U15 against Cyprus U15 in 2022. He also represented Ireland at U16 and U17 levels, making his competitive debut in a 4-0 Euro U17 qualifying win over Armenia U17. He captained Ireland for the first time in a 3–1 victory over Australia U16s at the start of 2023.

Finneran was named the Republic of Ireland’s under-15 player of the year in 2023. He became the youngest-ever debutant for Blackburn Rovers at the age of 15 when Blackburn faced Cambridge in the third round of the FA Cup.

Stats of Rory Finneran

For his club, he has played in U-18, and U-21 and have also made his debut for the senior team. In the U-18 Premier League, he have played 12 matches, five matches in Premier League 2. Since he is primarily a defensive midfielder, he has not scored goals in competitions.

Type of Player

Rory Finneran is a defensive midfielder, but he is also capable of playing at various other positions. He also played as a centre-back, Central midfield, Right Back and Centre Forward as well, which shows his versatility which is his biggest strength. He rarely makes any mistakes in his passing, his timing on the tackle is also almost perfect. He has great vision and is comfortable playing long and short passes.

Even though he will develop more physically in future still he is capable of playing football at the top level. He is a player who understands the game very well and also helps out his team to build up from the back, he quite often drops deep to the backline to progress the ball and most of the time he is successful in it.

Similar type of player

Rory Finneran is very much similar to former Liverpool and Brazilian international Fabinho, he is tenacious, aggressive and very skilful and he is very good at reading the opposition’s game. He is a great passer of the ball and can make some great forward runs as well. He can slot in as a centre-back during the buildup and helps the defence to progress the ball further up the pitch.

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