Striker Colm Whelan unveiled as Derry City player on a two-year deal

Derry City have announced the signing of striker Colm Whelan on a 2-year contract.

The 22-year-old has been a star striker for UCD in recent seasons, scoring 44 goals in 66 games for the Dublin side.

Whelan is the first new signing at the Brandywell in the off-season, and looks set to replace James Akintunde, whose time at the club is believed to have come to an end.

City boss Ruaidhri Higgins was delighted to get his man this week and said he was really looking forward to working with the former Ireland under-21 player.

"We are delighted to welcome Colm to the club- he is a player with an extremely bright future in the game. He has a lot of games under his belt at such a young age and has a fantastic goal scoring record.

"Myself and the staff are really excited to get working with Colm and helping him develop further at Derry City."

As for the player himself, he said he was really looking forward to being a part of something exciting over the next few years.

"I watched the FAI Cup final and was really impressed by what Derry and their fans did that weekend."

I've only played once at the Brandywell so far- a 7-1 defeat- so I'll have to make sure there are many better nights than that one."

"I can't wait to get started and can promise supporters a lot of hard work and hopefully a lot of goals."