Sweeting is excited to see what long-term target Burns can do for Dons

New signing Darragh Burns is another long-term target Dons’ Sporting Director Liam Sweeting has been after.

The 19-year-old winger is Dons’ sixth signing of the summer having arrived from St Patrick’s Athletic in Ireland for an undisclosed fee.

Scottish sides Hibs and Celtic were reported to be interested in the teenager in the January transfer window, with the former understood to have put in a bid only to see it rejected by the Saints.

And after biding their time, Sweeting said he has been impressed by what he has seen over a long time watching Burns and is eager to see him progress in the EFL.

He said: “Darragh is someone we have tracked for over 18 months since his performances last season for St Pats and again this season as he continued to develop and deliver excellent performances in the League of Ireland. He has also been rewarded recently with a call up to the Republic of Ireland u21s.

“Darragh has chosen MK Dons as the perfect match for his next stage of development and we look forward to firstly helping him settle here and then challenging him to continue progressing with us. I have been impressed with how eager he is to get going and we are pleased to welcome him and his family to Milton Keynes and the Dons.”

Head Coach Liam Manning added: “Darragh is a player we have watched for some time, including on our recent visit to Ireland for pre-season, and we are pleased to have been able to bring him to the football club.

“This will be a big transition for him, moving to a new country and a new league, so it will likely take some time to settle but he has some fantastic qualities and we are all very excited by his potential.”