It has been confirmed that the talented Tottenham teenager will get his first senior international call-up for two games this month
Mason Melia is set to get his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad even though the 18-year-old is yet to make his Tottenham debut.
Melia arrived at Spurs in January after the north London club had agreed a deal with St Patrick's Athletic to bring him over once he turned 18, with the transfer worth an initial £1.6million - a record figure for the League of Ireland - with the potential for future add-ons to double it.
Tottenham handed the youngster a long contract until 2031 as they fended off various other top Premier League and European clubs to sign one of the brightest young talents in Irish football.
The Republic of Ireland U21 international arrived with 98 senior games with St Pat's under his belt along with with 25 goals and eight assists. However, he also arrived with a back problem and later a chest infection, delaying his debut for Spurs' U21s until last month.
Melia has scored goals for them and stepped up to train on occasions with Roberto De Zerbi's first team but has not yet made a matchday squad in the Premier League. However, he will now make his first steps into the Irish senior squad and work alongside former Spurs striker Troy Parrott, who has become a star for club and country with his exploits at AZ Alkmaar.
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Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has confirmed he will name Melia in his squad for the next two friendlies at home to Qatar on May 28 and away to Canada on June 5.
"Mason is in the next camp,” said Hallgrimsson in Spain on Friday ahead of a fringe squad friendly game against Grenada on Saturday. "I have to be honest, I haven't seen him play for Tottenham's U21s in their last games, but our U21s manager Jim Crawford has.
"Obviously I saw him last season in Europe for St Pat’s and he played really well there. He has the qualities that we are looking for in a sense of his running behind, he’s a hard working kid, he will fight for every scrap. All of those things he has we saw last year in the League of Ireland and Europe.
"Hopefully he will get a run of club games and start pre-season well, hopefully at Tottenham and hopefully they will still be in the Premier League."