Keith Treacy has become the latest former Republic of Ireland international to be recruited by a League of Ireland club with the 26 year-old Dubliner having signed for Drogheda United until the end of the season.

Treacy, capped six times by Giovanni Trapattoni, was seen as a major prospect when he made his Premier League debut with Blackburn Rovers seven years ago but, for a variety of reasons, he suffered a series of setbacks over the years that followed and was just a few months into a two year contract at Barnsley when he had his contract terminated “by mutual consent”.

He has been without a club since but United boss Johnny McDonnell, who already has former Sunderland midfielder Sean Thornton at the club, sees the winger as having the potential to make a significant impact.

“Keith is a fantastic signing for the club,” said McDonnell. “I’ve been tracking him for a while as he took the best part of a year out of the game to get married. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he said he wasn’t going back to England so I invited him to train with us.

“He was brilliant to deal with in terms of our finances and we are delighted to have him on board. His quality has stood out already in training and I think it has given the rest of the squad a big lift.”

McDonnell has also signed former Derry City defender Roddy Collins who, like Treacy, moves to united Park until the end of the current campaign.