Cathal Heffernan has been on trial with Newcastle United and featured in the last two under-21s pre-season fixtures and is now set to ‘finalise’ his move from AC Milan

Newcastle United will ‘finalise’ the signing of AC Milan prospect Cathal Heffernan in the coming days following a successful trial. ChronicleLive understands the Republic of Ireland youth international has featured in two pre-season fixtures for the Magpies’ under-21s, with the latest appearance coming in the defeat at Barrow on Saturday.

Now, the Irish Examiner suggest Heffernan will become the latest academy recruit ‘barring a hitch’ in negotiations over the next two days. Newcastle have swooped to beat rival interest from Serie A sides to the 19-year-old’s signature, who is expected to link up with the under-21s setup for the new campaign.

The highly-rated former Cork City defender completed a fairytale switch to the Serie A giants in January last year on an initial loan deal which was made permanent in the summer. The League of Ireland side were said to have banked two five-figure sums as a result of the deal, although they are set to miss out on potentially lucrative sell-on fees with Heffernan’s expected move to Tyneside.

Heffernan comes from a prestigious sporting background, with parents Rob and Marian both competing in the Olympics in race walking and the 400m relay respectively. The centre-back will join fellow Galway native Alex Murphy at Newcastle, with the latter impressing in the Premier League Summer Series draw with Chelsea after replacing Fabian Schar.

The same report goes on to add that the Magpies remain in ‘advanced negotiations’ to sign Irish teenager Kevin Zefi from Inter Milan. The winger has spent the last two seasons in the club’s youth ranks, and became the League of Ireland’s youngest-ever goalscorer during the 2020/21 season when he found the net at the age of just 15 years and 206 days.