Ex-Dublin football star Paul Mannion transfers to Donegal Boston and heads to US for summer

Mannion had his transfer from Kilmacud Crokes to Donegal Boston officially rubber-stamped by the GAA today as the six-time All-Ireland winner heads Stateside for the next few months.

Mannion, who turned 29 last month, opted out of Dessie Farrell's Dublin fold at the end of the 2020 season and his loss was sorely felt last season as their seven-in-a-row dreams went up in smoke with an All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo.

Mannion will join up with the same club which Diarmuid Connolly famously helped to lift Boston SFC honours in 2018 while his return a year later was denied due to issues with his ESTA visa before he re-joined Jim Gavin's squad just weeks later and helped them to achieve five-in-a-row.

While Mannion will be expected to make a big splash across the Atlantic Ocean, former Kilkenny hurling star Colin Fennelly has already made an instant impact in San Francisco.

The four-time All-Ireland SHC winner, who also captained the Cats to Leinster success in 2020 before hanging up his inter-county boots, has swapped Ballyhale Shamrocks for San Francisco's Na Fianna this summer and he has wasted no time in announcing his arrival.

Fennelly amazingly hit the net four times in just over three minutes (182 seconds to be precise) at the State Farm West Coast Sevens last weekend in what is surely a sign of things to come.

Fennelly is joined in Na Fianna by Tipperary duo Ciarán Connolly and Bryan O'Mara, both part of UL's Fitzgibbon Cup-winning side earlier this year, with the Premier pair opting out of Colm Bonnar's senior fold this year as a result of their summer intentions.