On the same day he moved from Bayern Munich to Sevilla, it emerged that teenage midfielder Ryan Johansson had decided to play for Sweden rather than the Republic of Ireland.
In times past, such a high-profile switch would have caused uproar in Ireland, with Jack Grealish and Declan Rice deciding to represent England instead of the Boys in Green leading to outrage and disappointment across the island.
However, Johansson's decision caused just a little ripple because, even though he was moving between two huge European clubs, the 19-year-old was not even considered one of the best underage prospects for national side.
Instead, Irish fans and coaches alike have focused their attention on a breed of exciting forwards who have emerged in the Premier League, as well as a number of young talents who line up regularly in the Championship and in the League of Ireland.
The country's Under-21s are on the verge of qualifying for the European Championship for the first time ever thanks to Stephen Kenny, who it was revealed on Saturday will take charge of the senior squad with immediate effect.
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The Dubliner had been scheduled to succeed Mick McCarthy at the helm in August, after Euro 2020, but with the tournament having been postponed for a year, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have decided to bring forward his appointment.
It underlines how highly Kenny is thought of in Ireland.
He was the manager who guided Dundalk to the Europa League in 2016 and helped them become the first-ever Irish side to win a match in the group stage of a European competition.
His record with Ireland's U21s was impressive too, with seven wins and two losses in his first 12 games in charge, as well as a successful Toulon Tournament appearance in 2019 when the Boys in Green reached the semi-finals.
Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz was named the Toulon Tournament's best player with new Hertha Berlin striker Matheus Cunha finishing as top scorer, but many Irish players emerged as stars during the tournament, with captain Jayson Molumby finishing as the fourth-best player in the final awards, while Connor Ronan was named as an MVP of the Matchday during the group stage.
Norwich striker Adam Idah finished as Ireland's top scorer, while Brighton's Aaron Connolly also found the net in Toulon ahead of making their Premier League debuts in the 2019-20 season.
Both have been part of Kenny's squads for the U21 European Championship qualifying campaign, where Tottenham's Troy Parrott is Group 1's top scorer with four goals – all of which he scored as a 17-year-old playing against opponents three and four years his senior.
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Parrott turned 18 in February and signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Tottenham before being named in the NxGn 2020 list of the best teenage footballers in the world.
He made his Spurs debut in September in the Carabao Cup under Mauricio Pochettino and has been a bench option for Jose Mourinho, playing his first Premier League game in December – the second-youngest player to feature in England's top flight this season.
Before he made his Premier League debut, Parrott became a full international when he appeared for Ireland in a November friendly and provided an assist in a 3-1 win over New Zealand.
Parrott was spotted playing for Belvedere in Dublin by Tottenham, who beat clubs like Manchester City and Everton to his signature. He won youth tournaments at Belvedere, where he was coached by Darragh O'Reilly, who believes he can become one of the world's best forwards.
"He's just gone from strength to strength," O'Reilly told Goal. "He's done that since as young as I can remember. Every little step up that's put in front of him or every little challenge, he just thrives at it.
"Whether that was league representative stuff or international call ups or being pushed up to older ages with the international team or with Spurs, he just takes it all in his stride.
"He's the talk of the town now. With the ability he has and he's such a natural goalscorer, I'd like to think he can go very far. He can play at the top level, as long as things go well.
"If someone can score goals so naturally the way he does, I think he can go as far as he wants to go."
Connolly has also made his senior debut for the Boys in Green, having come to prominence with two goals for Brighton on his first-ever Premier League start. Just a week after that October double, he came off the bench for Ireland and three days later started in a crucial qualifier against Switzerland.
McCarthy was often over-reliant on experienced veterans as his short-term contract meant his only remit was to qualify for the European Championship, but he also handed debuts and first call-ups to many other young Irish players during the last year.
Teenagers Lee O'Connor, Nathan Collins, Luca Connell and Michael Obafemi were all called up by McCarthy in 2019, but Kenny's arrival in the senior job is expected to herald another batch of new talent, including Idah and Molumby, who have been key members of his U21 panel.
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Winger Zack Elbouzedi has played all seven of Ireland's U21 European Championship qualifiers and also started all the group games at the Toulon Tournament before injury sidelined him for the knockout stage.
His form with the Boys in Green helped earn him a move from League of Ireland side Waterford to Lincoln City, and he credits Kenny with developing his game.
"He's so passionate. You can just tell that he eats, sleeps and breathes football," Elbouzedi told Goal.
"He's just got that infectious energy. You can tell that every day you work with him that there's just no place he'd rather be. He puts that belief in you that you're as good as any team and that you can compete with the best teams. He has that belief in us and in turn, we have that belief in him and that belief in each other.
"If you look at my performance a year ago against Luxembourg compared to my last one against Sweden, you'll be able to tell the difference. A lot of it is down to playing regularly with my club at Waterford and getting that confidence and that belief, with two managers Stephen and Alan Reynolds who believed in me a lot.
"When you have confidence from your manager, as a winger, you have that freedom to express yourself and make mistakes and that's when your performances start getting better. He's definitely improved me as a player."
Former Ireland international and current Ireland U18 manager Andy Reid claims the U21s are the best group of young players to ever come through for Ireland, perhaps even more talented than Brian Kerr's U16 and U18 sides which lifted their respective European Championship trophies.
Elbouzedi says the players are not affected by the pressure of being named Ireland's golden generation, instead stating that Kenny's management has already instilled the belief in the squad that they can take on and beat any team in the world.
"Stephen has an expectation of us and we don't really listen to outside sources, but you'd rather be spoken about like that than not get spoken about at all," he continued.
"We just take it all in our stride. No one really feels that pressure. Since the first day that Stephen came in, he said that we wanted to qualify and we didn't want to settle for being second-best so since the first day we've had that expectation for ourselves that we want to be the best we can be. When you see other people talking about it, it doesn't really have an influence on us because that's the way we wanted to be from the start.
"I didn't play in the Brazil game [at Toulon], but the Mexico team that I played were up there with one of the best teams that I've played. I watched the Brazil game and they were incredible. They're probably the best team at that age in the world and the lads gave a good account of themselves. When you go on and play other teams, with all the respect, they're not going to be better than Brazil.
"We know that we put it up to them so we have nothing to fear when we go out to play the likes of Italy. When you're nervous you might be starstruck by the players they have, but because we've played the likes of Brazil and we've put in good performances and got good results, we know we can compete against anyone."
The winger has scored twice in the qualifying campaign so far, netting the winner against Armenia as well as Ireland's fourth against Sweden after Idah and Parrott had both found the net in a 4-1 victory.
Elbouzedi has greatly enjoyed playing in support of Idah, Parrott and Connolly and believes that trio has what it takes to make it to the very top.
"They're different players but they're all goalscorers," Elbouzedi explained. "They've all scored goals at any level they've been at.
"They're good lads with good attitudes and if they keep going and keep progressing gradually, then the world is their oyster. People need to be careful putting so much pressure on them, they're only young lads and still only finding their way in the game. The potential is there to be great players."
Connolly missed the November win over Sweden as he was in Ireland's senior squad and Irish fans are hopeful that Kenny's appointment will mean more of the golden generation get called up to the main team.
Elbouzedi is no different than those fans and is eyeing senior international caps having impressed the former Dundalk boss at underage level.
"When it was announced that he was going to get the job, it gave you the extra motivation that if you do well for him, he might take you up," he admitted.
"He's not afraid to play young players or bring players through. He spoke about the fact that he won't be afraid to bring younger players, but obviously you have to be playing first-team football at a good level and doing the business for him on the pitch.
"He's not going to bring you up because he likes you or because you did well at a certain age group. I think it's just about trying to keep that momentum going and to be in a position to capitalise on that when he takes over."
Kenny will now be in charge for Ireland's Euro 2021 play-off semi-final against Slovakia and the subsequent World Cup qualifying campaign, hoping to return Ireland to the promised land after 20 years of no appearances at the World Cup finals.
A lot of pressure will be on the 48-year-old, but just as much focus will be on Ireland's new golden generation.