Underage squads: Best Prospects

Also, Josh Cullen and Jake O'Brien say hello - it's not just some romantic notion, there are a myriad of factors to take into account, who can say Heffernan would have been better off at Cork, yes he didnt make it at Milan, but he moved away from home and trained in a fabulous environment, maybe that will be the making of him. You cant just generalise like that. Ferizaj stayed in the LoI and cant get a game, he's 18 now and going to Serie A. 

And as Banana points out, Devoy is a weird example to pin your hat on! Relegated from L1 in a season where both he and the club struggled. Almost 22 now and facing a season in L2.

Adam Murphy at Pats is reported to be turning down moves to Premier League clubs, with a view that a move to Bristol City would give him a better chance of game tine. So wouldnt Ferizaj be better off doing something similar rather than taking a jump straight to a Serie A team?

We're all hoping that some of quality young fellas we have coming through can actually make it in the pro world. I'm just hoping they dont take bad advice and make career moves at this stage that dont help their career.

Ferizaj could get on well in Frosinone but he could also go there, stagnate in some underage or reserve team setup and not start getting the 1st team games he might get elsewhere.

That's a sweeping generalisation tbh and of the examples you listed, Armstrong only played 6 times for Rovers reserves before going over to QPR at 17, Jake O'Brien played a grand total of 9 times for Cork City's senior team while Negru played 6 games for Shels seniors. Abankwah played 9 times for St Pats before being loaned back after signing for Udinese just after his 18th birthday. We really have yet to see what effect Brexit has had, as the likes of Heffernan. Zefi, McJannet, Moore etc are still too young to gauge whether or not their early moves abroad have been beneficial or not.

He could stagnate at any club he moves too whether that be a Serie A side or an English conference side! He’s showing a bit of ambition and can only be commended, trying to paint the move as a negative says more about you than him.

Exposure to football and environments meaning not just games but training every day with men/in senior squads. It’s a massive benefit and I don’t think it’s a generalisation at all think the above are all recent and decent examples of how it can benefit them. Mcjannet came through the English system (he’s English born) so don’t know what relevance he has to young players in LOI environments. 

Zefi and Heffernan moved early. I mentioned factoring in Udinese with Abankwah think you have to factor in how hard it is to breakthrough at top clubs like AC/Inter Milan,or “Prem” clubs nowadays. Prem clubs no matter where you come from are hard to break into for young players.