The Portsmouth goal-scoring triallist once considered for a Fratton Park transfer now interesting Reading
The Derry City teenager scored for Pompey in pre-season last summer
He spent last summer trialling at Pompey and was identified by John Mousinho as a teenage talent worth potentially signing.
Now, 12 months on, Reading have been running the rule over Sean Patton as he once again bids to break into the English game.
Although the Republic of Ireland under-19 international isn’t expected to feature as a triallist in Saturday’s encounter between the clubs at the Madejski Stadium.
The Fratton faithful may recall the Derry City attacker from his time with the Blues in July 2024, when he featured in three friendlies.
Scored against the Hawks
The teenager even wrote his name on the scoresheet in a 3-0 success at the Hawks, albeit his goal being overshadowed by Ryley Towler’s stunning strike from long distance.
He also featured against Gosport and Bognor, before returning to Ireland at the end of his scheduled week-long stay, where he resumed playing duties with loan club Finn Harps.
At the time, Mousinho spoke glowingly about Patton, insisting he was ‘definitely one we are interested in’ and promising to monitor his progress.
‘He’s one for the future, so it would be a development one - hence why it’s not quite a priority at the moment, but he’s definitely one we’re interested in.
‘We want to protect the future for Portsmouth, so those kind of players that we can get on decent enough deals and develop as we go through the years are definitely ones everyone wants to see - we’ll keep doing that.’
A move didn’t materialise, though, and the 18-year-old remains at Derry City, where he has featured 10 times so far during their current League of Ireland Premier Division campaign.
However, Patton has recently tried his luck at Reading and was last week identified by supporters having been spotted on video footage training with Noel Hunt’s side.
It represented another opportunity to impress in the English game, having been identified as a player of great promise, with the League One club the latest to cast their eye over his talents.
Patton arrived at Pompey just weeks into a loan move to Finn Harps for the remainder of the SSE Airtricity League First Division and had already featured twice, including scoring on his debut against Kerry.
As a consequence, he was permitted to stay just a week on the south coast, going on to feature three times during his stay and scoring once.
He returned to The Harps following 28 minutes off the bench against Bognor, having replaced Kusini Yengi, and went on to help them finish sixth in the table.
Patton totalled 13 appearances for Irish club, including 10 starts, producing one goal and two assists during an encouraging time with the County Donegal-based side.
The striker, who turns 19 on Friday, has so far featured 10 times for Derry in the League of Ireland Premier Division this season, albeit with just one start.
Republic of Ireland Under-19 international
Yet to score this term, his most recent outing was 14 minutes off the bench in a 2-0 defeat to Sligo on July 12, which in March he made his Republic of Ireland Under-19s debut against Germany.
Despite being on trial, though, Patton didn’t feature for Reading in last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Spurs and is therefore unlikely to be involved against Pompey.
The Blues’ latest pre-season friendly sees them travel to the League One side this Saturday, representing a step up in quality of opposition encountered so far.