Mason Melia has spoken positively about his first weeks with Lincoln City after completing a season-long loan move from Tottenham Hotspur.
The 18-year-old striker joined the Imps earlier this month, becoming one of several additions to the squad following promotion to the Championship. Although he is still waiting for his first start, Melia has already been introduced from the bench and is beginning to adapt to his new surroundings.
The Republic of Ireland youth international arrived with considerable senior experience for a player of his age, having played regularly for St Patrick’s Athletic before making the move to Tottenham. His first impressions of Lincoln have been encouraging, with the forward praising the welcome he has received from the players and staff.
“I’ve settled in really well, to be fair,” he told Imps+. “Everyone has been lovely, so it is a great place to be and to be training and playing every week.”
Melia was brought on during the closing stages of Saturday’s 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth, replacing Ben House for the final 15 minutes. He has so far been used carefully by Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen, with City’s head coaches explaining that some of their summer arrivals were not at peak fitness when they joined.
The Carabao Cup meeting with Blackpool could now provide Melia with an opportunity to make his first start. Changes are expected at Bloomfield Road as the Imps look to balance their cup ambitions with the demands of their opening Championship fixtures.
The process that brought Melia to Lincoln was certainly unusual. He was in Australia when discussions took place and needed to join a large video call involving people operating across several different time zones.
“I was over in Australia at first, so we had to do a big Zoom call, which was a bit mental. I’d never done it before, but I think there were 10 different people on it and loads of different time zones.
“It went quite quickly, to be fair. Everything sounded good and I just couldn’t wait to get going.”
The nature of the call may have been unexpected, but Melia did not need long to be convinced that Lincoln represented the right next step. His loan offers the chance to gain regular experience in a demanding division while continuing the development that earned him his move to Tottenham.
Despite already having experienced a major transfer earlier in his career, the speed and logistics of the deal still took him by surprise.
“It is mental. It was done very quickly and it was very nice to be a part of, to be fair.”
Melia now has an opportunity to make his mark at City. Having spent his opening weeks settling in and building his fitness, the teenager could receive his first extended chance against Blackpool as the Imps seek a place in the third round.