A focal point in Sheffield United's defensive system as the Yorkshire club has defied all odds in this season's Premier League, John Egan will be to the forefront of Stephen Kenny's plans for the Republic of Ireland.
The 27-year-old Cork native is currently in the midst of his first season of Premier League football after sampling every level of the English football pyramid up to this point.
With less than 10 international caps to his name, Egan, who made his Ireland breakthrough in a 2017 friendly, may well become of as much importance to Stephen Kenny as he has been to Chris Wilder at Sheffield United.
"He is starting regularly with a top-6 club in the Premier League," remarked former Ireland and Premier League centre-half Damien Delaney on Saturday's Off The Ball, "so yeah, for me he is definitely the first name on the Ireland team-sheet.
"He is at a great age, has a great back catalogue of experience and I think he has proven that he is more than ready to make the step up into international football."
Significantly, John Egan's progress with the Blades has come as part of a defensive trio that Wilder has shown his consistent preference for.
Although Delaney and journalist Johnny Ward, co-host of the LOI Weekly podcast, cannot foresee any eventuality whereby Stephen Kenny would deploy a similar system with Ireland, Egan is well-equipped to adapt.
"I know a lot of people might think that it is easy to make that switch from a back 3 to a two-person partnership," the former Crystal Palace defender warned, "but it really isn't.
"When you're playing in a really specialised system and you're asked to fulfill a specialised role, to go into with a four in Ireland could be difficult, but I think he has enough experience behind him.
"For me, he is the first name on the team-sheet."
Where it had been another Irish centre-half in Shane Duffy that was so often the key man in Mick McCarthy's plans for Ireland, Johnny Ward considered what Egan's assumed prominence would mean for the Brighton defender.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen with Duffy under Kenny," he noted. "I think his ability on the ball and how deep he plays - and he plays very deep - might be an issue.
"But Egan is going to be a big, big player."
You can watch back Damien Delaney and Johnny Ward on Saturday's football show here.
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