STEVENAGE are fighting off Premier League interest in rising star Ryan Doherty — who is in their first team at just 15.
The League One outfit gave the midfielder 45 minutes against Luton in a behind-closed-doors game last week.
Boro do not want to lose the smooth-passing talent but may have to if a major offer comes in.
Doherty, who plays primarily as a midfielder has progressed quickly and his development has alerted Premier League sides to his ability.
The Prem clubs interested remain unnamed, but it is thought that a host of top flight outfits are keen to acquire his services for their academies.
Doherty is set to feature regularly in the first team squad next season under new boss Alex Revell.
The schoolboy also impressed in his 30 minutes against Watford on Saturday.
Stevenage held Championship side Watford to a 2-2 draw at the Lamex Stadium.
Stevenage often give opportunities to youngsters after playing 15-year-old goalkeeper Max Woodford against Crystal Palace U21s in the EFL trophy last season.
And fans took to social media to praise the talented teenager.
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One wrote: “Doherty is incredibly impressive. Hope he gets a chance to play in League One before the elites swoop in.”
Another said: “Cracking little player – won’t be around for much longer, I wouldn’t have thought.”
A third declared: “Great stuff, always fresh to see a young prodigy break through.”
While another added: “Someone born in 2009 now playing for the Boro, seems like it was only yesterday!”
NINE summers ago Ollie Watkins went on a lads’ holiday after helping to save Conference South side Weston-Super-Mare from relegation, writes Dan King.
Now he’s just fired England into the Euro 2024 final with a sensational 90th-minute winner.
And even helped Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League last season.
Watkins arrived on the Somerset coast as a teenaged striker on loan from League Two Exeter in December 2014.
His 10 goals in 24 league games were a big factor in stopping Weston from slipping into the sixth tier for the first time in their history – and in giving them something to celebrate on a post-season trip to Spain.
But it was also his workrate and attitude that earned him the respect of the dressing room, and helped him take the first significant steps on the road to stardom.
Ryan Northmore, boss of Weston at the time, said: “His goals saved the club from relegation. But he contributed much more than his goals, which is really important when you’re scrapping away for your lives.
“He wasn’t just sat at the top of the pitch waiting for the ball to come. He would roll his sleeves up and get involved in all aspects of the game.”
Days after joining, Watkins made an instant impact with an equaliser against Farnborough.
Team-mate Tom Jordan said: “He always struck me as the kind of lad who had his eyes wide open to different aspects of the game.
“Sometimes you would have loan lads come in from a League club to non-League and they would be looking at you like they were doing you a favour.
“His attitude was very different. He was coming in thinking, ‘I’m going to learn from this experience’.”
It was during Watkins’ spell at Weston that the then Walsall boss Dean Smith spotted him.
Smith would later take the striker to Brentford and bring him to Villa, where he has reached new levels under current boss Unai Emery.
But Watkins has never forgotten the part that Weston played in his rise to the top.
One of his Villa shirts is on display there, he has spoken to young players coming through and happily tells the local press how important and enjoyable his time at the club was.
And he even helped fund an end-of-season boys’ trip to Spain due to his fines for being late – although he was allowed to join the rest of the squad.
Read all about Ollie Watkins’ incredible rise in full…
