Shamrock Rovers have completed the signing of the highly-rated Republic of Ireland under-21 international defender Liam Scales.
Scales clocked up 93 league appearances with UCD after moving from Arklow Town in 2015.
The 21-year-old centre-half, who can also play left-back, will join up with his former UCD team-mates Gary O'Neil and Neil Farrugia who moved to Tallaght Stadium in the summer.
Scales and Farrugia were invited to train with Manchester City's under-23s last April while Scales had been strongly linked with both Bristol Rovers and Fleetwood Town of League One, so Hoops boss Stephen Bradley was delighted to get his signature.
"We’ve really liked Liam for quite some time," said Bradley. "I think he has a lot of attributes that fit the way we play so it’s a great match, for Liam and the club.
"We spoke with him a few months back when he was with UCD but these things take time and he was looking at every option available to him.
"He’s had a lot of interest from outside the league and that’s been going on for quite some time so we’re delighted that he sees his future with us."
Scales has been impressed, both watching and playing against the Tallaght club, and is looking forward to being part of the playing staff next season.
"I’m delighted to get it all done," said Scales. "My time at UCD came to an end so it was time to move on and for me, Shamrock Rovers is the best option.
"They’re on the up and they’ve got a great crop of young players coming through. I was at the FAI Cup final and I saw how good that performance was and I just wanted to be part of something like that.
"Rovers played a Dundalk team that had won the league the last couple of years and they deserved to win that final. It was a great performance and that kind of swung it for me."
Scales was also won over by Bradley's intent on attempting to release Dundalk's stranglehold on the SSE Airtricity League trophy.
"They’ve got a young manager who wants to win the league and that’s huge for me," added Scales. "I want to win silverware and be part of a team that wins trophies.
"The lads proved last year that they can do that. I played against them three or four times this year and they play it out from the back as much as they can.
"That would suit me because it’s the style of play UCD played while I was there for a few years. Obviously it’s a step up from UCD and I’ll have to improve certain aspects of my game but I can’t wait to get going."
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