Stephen Kenny renews rivalry with John Caulfield with transfer market swoop

They are managing different clubs now, but former Dundalk Stephen Kenny on Monday got one up on his old Cork City rival John Caulfield.

He secured the signing of left-sided player Al-Amin Kazeem on a multi-year deal from Colchester United, just days after the 22-year-old played his final game for Galway United in their 2-0 defeat to Shelbourne.

Kazeem’s contract at Colchester expired on Sunday, as did his loan spell at Galway.

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The Tribesmen offered him a permanent contract in the hope that they would hold onto him, but he turned that down and on Monday morning penned a deal with the Saints.

Left-back is an area in which Kenny needed reinforcements, so he was delighted to secure the deal.

“Al-Amin has excellent attributes for a left-back, he’s really quick and a good attacking footballer but also loves to defend,” he said.

“Often you can get left-wingers who are converted to left-backs and they like getting forward, but defensively they still have to learn the game, but Al-Amin certainly loves to defend as well.

“He has very good attributes and at 22, he has the capacity to improve and get better.

“He is someone with great values as a person and he has a real hunger to fulfil his potential.

“Al-Amin is very professional in the way he lives his life and the way he prepares, he will be an excellent addition to St Patrick’s Athletic and we’re looking forward to seeing him play.”

Kazeem made 33 appearances for Colchester between 2019 and 2024, while he made 20 appearances for Galway during his loan spell with the Tribesmen.

He was delighted to complete the move to Pat’s, saying: “It feels amazing, I’m delighted for myself and my family to be joining a big club like St Pat’s.

“I had very positive conversations with the Manager and the club and I’m delighted to be here.
“Playing in the League of Ireland for the first half of the season at Galway will definitely help me settling here.

“I played St Pat’s twice so I have a good feel for what the team is like and the style of play, which I think will suit me very much.

“I’m attacking left-back, I like to go forward and join in the attacks and help creating things and I enjoy the defensive side of the game too.

“I’ve been at Colchester United since the age of 14 or 15, I enjoyed it there and also really enjoyed my loan spell at Galway and getting minutes there.

“I didn’t know much about the League of Ireland before I came here but I’ve loved it so far, it’s a good league, and very demanding, which I think I can succeed in.

“I’m looking forward to playing in the St Pat’s colours and having the fans behind me, I know Pat’s have a very big crowd who are very supportive of their team, so I hope they can receive me positively.

“I want to win games, hopefully I can help St Pat’s succeed and do as well as we can.”

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