"If Phil Foden wants to join us as well he's more than welcome." says Derry City boss

​The Brandywell boss has made it a hat-trick of signings from the star-studded 2016/17 FA Youth Cup finalists when luring defensive midfielder Jacob Davenport to the League of Ireland this week. He joins Will Patching and Sadou Diallo - two more of the 11 who started that cup final alongside Foden and Man United's Jadon Sancho.

Interestingly Shelbourne's Tyreke Wilson was another to feature in that 6-2 loss to Chelsea seven years ago and will battle it out with his former Man City Academy teammates in the race for the Premier Division title with their nearest challengers Derry this season.

Given his pedigree and experience in the English Football League since moving from City to Blackburn, and to various clubs in both League One and Two since, Higgins was delighted to get Davenport to buy into his plans at Brandywell.

And according to both manager and player, it didn't need a long discussion as 'agent Patching' had done plenty of groundwork in convincing his friend Derry was a place he could flourish.

“Patch thinks he deserves a dual role as director of football as well," joked Higgins. "Obviously it's great having that connection. When lads like Jacob see that Will and Sadou are enjoying it here; I'm not sure if we get them if the other two lads aren't here because of their experience and the enjoyment that they've had here, that's played a huge part in bringing them here.

"I genuinely don't think we would get him if they weren't here. Obviously their experiences helped push it over the line. It's unbelievable that from U12 right through it was those three in midfield together. It's unbelievable."

So is Foden next on his summer recruitment drive?

"If Phil wants to join as well he's more than welcome," laughed the City boss. "Joking aside, Jacob's a lovely footballer. A really talented footballer. He has a strong history in the game coming through at City and then playing a number of games at Blackburn and Burton Albion.

"He spent some time with a couple of different clubs in the English Football League so he comes with great experience for a young enough man at 25.

"What was really impressive about him was our conversations were dominated by him wanting to fit into the structure of the team and enjoy his football, playing in a style that suits him. That was the main topic of conversation so it was all done very quickly.

“He's not available obviously until the Sligo game (July 4th), so it gives us a bit of time to get a mini pre-season, if you want to call it that, into him and get him ready; an extremely talented player, left-footed centre midfield player. They're hard to come by and he will give the team real balance.

“If you look at his pedigree and history for a young man, he's experienced an awful lot. I remember chatting to him a few days ago and he was saying that the whole way through underage at Man City it was a midfield three of Davenport, Diallo and Patching so they’re all the same age.

“I would imagine they never thought the three of them would end up at Derry City together, but it's amazing how things work out and I'm delighted to bring him to the club. Equally, Jacob's happy to be here and we're coming into a really exciting part of the season where he's going to be an important player for us.”

Higgins has dipped into the English and Scottish markets regularly during his City tenure and he's found the lure of playing in Europe and battling for honours on a regular basis has given him an advantage in attracting top talent like Paul McMullan, Mark Connolly and Danny Mullen whom he's secured in recent summer transfer windows.

"What I'm finding even more now is that lads, even Scotland, England, if you're going around the leagues, this is something different for them, it's a different experience.

“They get to play in Europe, something they probably wouldn't get through their own leagues they've been in. They get the challenge for honours as well. I'm sure the likes of Jacob have seen the clips on YouTube from the cup final a few years ago and probably had an appetite to come here. We have something unique to offer and lads now see that.

“When you look back, when you're in your late 30s and you've retired, I feel it's very, very important to look back on memories and what you've achieved. If you've played multiple games in Europe and won a trophy or two, then they're the special memories.

"When I look back, my main memories are from winning trophies and playing in Europe, so it's really important to have that and hopefully Jacob will get to experience those things.”