United youngster Cathal Heffernan is looking to impress again this season
Cathal Heffernan of Newcastle United
Cathal Heffernan(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
There is more than one former AC Milan defender hoping to impress for Newcastle United this season.
Malick Thiaw is currently settling into life at St James Park after completing a reported £30million move to Tyneside earlier this month and he could make his Magpies debut in Monday’s eagerly anticipated home game with Liverpool.
However, there is another defender with experience of wearing the famous red-and-black shirts of the Serie A giants within the United ranks and this month marks the two-year anniversary of his arrival at the club.
Magpies Under-21s captain Cathal Heffernan has enjoyed a solid start to the new season as he led his side to a 4-3 win in a National League Cup tie at Gateshead before they fell to a 2-1 home defeat against Southampton in their opening game of the Premier League 2 campaign.
The former Cork City centre-back spent time training with Juventus, Roma and Atalanta earlier in his career before Milan made a move for his services in January 2022. After making an initial loan move to the Rossineri that became a permanent switch six months later, Heffernan experienced life within Milan’s Under-18s and Under-19s sides - and the experience left a lasting impression on him.
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He told Chronicle Live: “I loved it, I loved living there, it was a big change and it was really hard at the start. I think I underestimated how difficult it was going to be at the start and it was a difficult challenge because I went from training part-time in Ireland to being a full-time professional at 16.
“It took time to get used to it and the language difference was tough but after two months, I was able to speak some Italian, I was improving all of the time and I saw a massive change. They pride themselves in defending over there, it’s the way it is and they’d rather the opposition doesn’t score than your own team win.
“That has made me pride myself in my defending too and training with the players over there, you learn a lot on and off the pitch. I matured so much and that helped me when I moved to Newcastle and helped me settle in. Geordie didn’t take me as long to learn as Italian, thank God.”
Heffernan has experienced life within the Magpies first-team setup during a number of training sessions during his two-year spell on Tyneside - and he believes he has taken something from his more senior defenders throughout that time.
“There are so many strong defenders in the first-team squad and I can look up to all of them because they all have their own characteristics and their own strengths,” he explained.
“If I can pick something from all of their games, it’s going to help me massively improve because there is so much quality and so many different qualities within them.
Cathal Heffernan celbrates scoring for Newcastle United U21s against Gateshead
Cathal Heffernan celbrates scoring for Newcastle U21s against Gateshead
“I can see a massive change in my game and a massive different in my personality since I came to the club.
“I can’t thank everybody in the academy and around the club enough for helping me settle in so easily. It’s been a brilliant two years and I’ve loved it.”
With a number of impressive performances at Under-21 level last season and a promising start to the new campaign, talk over what comes next for Heffernan’s development.
At 20-year-old, there is a feeling the Republic of Ireland youth international is perhaps ready for a loan move and to experience first-team football on a regular basis.
Chronicle Live understands there have been expressions of interest from clubs willing to hand that opportunity to the powerful centre-back - but Heffernan has admitted he is just focused on rising to the next challenge that lies ahead of him.
He said: “I’m a bit unsure (on his next step) at the moment but I am just taking each game as it comes. Every day is a new challenge so I don’t have many long-term goals in my head, it’s just short-term and meeting every challenge head on.
“Maybe I can give you an answer in a couple of weeks or months - but for now it’s just looking at what the next challenge is for me.”
The next challenge for Heffernan and his Magpies Under-21 team-mates will come tonight when they host Chelsea at Whitley Park in their second game of the Premier League 2 season before travelling to Birmingham City seven days later.
The meeting with the Blues will be the next test in a hectic season for the United youngsters as the UEFA Youth League and Premier League International Cup have been thrown into an already busy schedule.
Far from being daunted by the challenges that lie ahead, Heffernan believes facing a wide range of opposition sides will only aid his own development and that of his team-mates across the Magpies academy.
He said: “It will set us up right for the season because it’s going to be this way with two games a week throughout the season and that is brilliant for us.
“You want to pick up points, get a good start in the league, pick up those wins. Every competition has its own unique challenges, you play so many different teams and that is ultimately how you are going to learn the most. It’s why you love playing in as many competitions.
“Last year, we had the National League Cup and the EFL Trophy and they’re brilliant because you’re playing a wide spread of teams and it’s definitely the best way to learn.”