Garts could be last in as Dane departs

BRIAN Gartland could be the only remaining member of last season’s Dundalk squad to re-join the club for next season.

The centre half is one of a handful of players whose future remains up in the air ahead of the 2021 campaign.

So far Michael Duffy, Cameron Dummigan, David McMillan, Daniel Kelly and Sean Murray have all committed to remain at Oriel Park next season while the departures of Nathan Oduwa, Aaron McCarey, Georgie Kelly, Sean Gannon, Sean

Hoare, John Mountney, Jimmy Corcoran and Gary Rogers have been confirmed.

Dundalk are understood to be in discussions with Gartland, who joined the club from Portadown in the summer of 2013, and are hopeful of tying down the former club captain for next season.

Hopes of holding onto Jordan Flores look bleak, however, with the midfielder understood to be refusing to take calls from either chairman Bill Hulsizer or head coach Filippo Giovagnoli.

While not included on the list of players released by the club before Christmas, it is also understood that Dane Massey’s time at Oriel Park has come to an end with the full back on the look out for a new club at present.

In total Massey made 291 appearances for Dundalk over the course of the last eight seasons, winning five league titles, three FAI Cups, three League Cups, one Leinster Senior Cup, two President’s Cups and one Unite the Union Champions Cup.

The former Bray Wanderers man scored a total of 24 goals in his time at the club, including the opener on what would prove to be his final outing in Dundalk colours in the 2-0 FAI Cup win away to Cobh Ramblers in Giovagnoli’s first match in charge at the end of August.

Unfortunately the 32-year-old sustained a hip injury in training in the days after that which required surgery and prematurely ended his season.