James McClean’s future at Derry City is in doubt amid reports he could be exiting the club.
The Republic of Ireland centurion has had a troubled return to his hometown club since signing in the off-season from Championship side Wrexham.
The move has been far from smooth, however, with McClean regularly signalling his unhappiness at the club.
“Family [are] enjoying being home – probably not so much myself, if I’m being honest,” McClean said during World Cup punditry with RTÉ Sport when discussing life at the Candystripes.
“You know, you have a lot of conversations on the phone, and then you come home and you quickly realise that what you hear on the phone is not what you see in reality.
“There’s a lot of factors that’s contributed to that, but we’ll leave them for another day.”
During Derry’s Premier Division match against Sligo Rovers last Friday, McClean posted a picture on Instagram which appeared to show him watching his old side Wrexham take on Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup on TV rather than his own team.
Previously after being ruled out of the matchday squad for Derry’s second leg defeat to Rijeka in the Conference League, he sent a pointed message on Instagram where he said the blame did not lie with the players’ quality or their effort levels – stressing “clearly there is an issue somewhere”.
He has also been involved in a public online spat with former City manager Roddy Collins.
Mark Connolly took over as interim boss for a 2-0 Premier Division win over Sligo.
The veteran was not part of the squad for that game.
City have failed to challenge for the title this year, despite huge spending, and face an uphill task to even qualify for European football next year.
Amid multiple reports that he may be set to exit the club, both McClean and City have been contacted for comment this evening without response.
Ironically City will host an open day as part of Feile celebrations within the city at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Tuesday, where all eyes will be on McClean to see if he part of the session or if his return to the club at which he began his professional career is coming to an abrupt end.