‘It’s every player’s dream’ – Defender O’Hanlon reflects on first few weeks at Manchester City | OneFootball

Defender Tara O’Hanlon says that being a Manchester City player is a dream come true and that she has had to pinch herself when watching some of her teammates on the training pitch.

The 19-year-old Republic of Ireland international joined The Cityzens from Peamount United on January’s Transfer Deadline Day. She signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Manchester City.

O’Hanlon has been recovering from an injury in the early weeks of her Manchester City career, however, she admits to being starstruck when watching some of her teammates in training.

When speaking to the media in a Manchester City roundtable, O’Hanlon said “This time four months ago, I was back in Ireland, so to be over here now and to have people who I’ve watched growing up, who I’ve idolised, it’s every player’s dream, not only to be at a club like City but also to look out on the training pitch and be like ‘Oh My God!’

“I look up to these players so much and now I get to train alongside them, that’s really important for me. Coming back from an injury, the girls have been amazing with me and that’s also been very important in getting me back on the pitch. I’m really lucky and happy to be here.”

With the likes of Alex Greenwood, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Houghton on Manchester City’s books, O’Hanlon has the opportunity to learn from players that have very much been there and done it. While the youngster has been sidelined until recently, she admits that being able to watch experienced senior players in training has been hugely beneficial.

She said “It’s been all about watching them and seeing them play. I’ve come in and I’m still coming back from an injury, so it hasn’t been so much about training but more about watching.

“Being able to watch the girls and see what they do, in some ways is even more beneficial than actually having a conversation about things because you get to see their actions and how they perform in training. That has been really good for me.”

O’Hanlon was one of a trio of youthful additions to the Manchester City squad in January. Durham’s Poppy Pritchard and Aston Villa’s Laura Blindkilde Brown also sealed moves to The Joie Stadium. O’Hanlon has felt the benefit of bedding into life as a Cityzen alongside players of a similar age.

She said “It’s helped massively. It was very important for me coming in that I had two others who are of a similar age. The three of us get on really well, we have similar backgrounds and we are all very young, finishing education and things like that, then coming into this environment. We actually all live in the same building, so we are quite close. It’s nice to have them here as well.”

O’Hanlon will continue to rebuild her fitness in the coming weeks with a view to pushing on next season.