Andy Irving on SFA's radar for a Scotland call-up as ex-Hearts man makes West Ham debut in Premier League

The midfielder is making an impact in London

Scottish Football Association officials are watching the West Ham United midfielder Andy Irving with a view to a future international call-up. The former Hearts player made his English Premier League debut against Chelsea on Saturday and the Edinburgh News has learned that he is already on the national team’s radar.

The SFA contacted West Ham earlier this month for information on Irving’s progress since he arrived in London. They are keen to get him involved in the senior Scotland squad if he continues playing minutes in England’s top flight. The 24-year-old replaced the Brazilian internationalist Lucas Paquetá after 72 minutes of West Ham’s 3-0 defeat by Chelsea at the London Stadium.

With Celtic’s Callum McGregor retired from Scotland duty and Norwich City’s Kenny McLean turning 33 in January, national coach Steve Clarke needs a succession plan for left-sided central midfielders. Irving is one of the names on the list. Added to the fact that Aston Villa’s John McGinn is out for several weeks with a hamstring injury, Irving’s chances of a call-up are increasing.

He officially joined West Ham last year from Austria Klagenfurt and was instantly loaned back there. He finally moved to England in June and has been making gradual progress under the West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui. Celtic were among several clubs keen to sign him before August’s transfer deadline along with Europa League winners Atalanta and Spanish side Espanyol. Irving chose to stay and fight for a place with the Hammers.

A graduate of the Riccarton youth academy, the player from Portobello left Hearts in summer 2021 to join the German third division club Türkgücü Munich. After they hit financial problems he moved to Klagenfurt, where his career began to take off and captured West Ham’s attention. Irving scored nine goals and claimed eight assists as Klagenfurt finished sixth in last season’s Austrian Bundesliga. Having represented Scotland at under-21, under-19 and under-17 level, he could now find himself involved at senior level with Nations League ties to come in both October and November.

Irving explained his delight at making his Premier League debut in an interview with the official West Ham website. “It feels amazing to have made my debut,” he said. “Since I signed for the club the biggest thing for me was playing in the Premier League for West Ham, so I’m really happy that I’ve been able to do that and that my hard work has paid off.

“I had a good pre-season, and my aim was to be in and around it when we got to the end of the transfer window. I had the choice to maybe go somewhere else, but my conversations with Julen Lopetegui and the other coaches were really positive. I’ve put in a lot of work, and I wanted to stay and show what I can do. It was good to get on against Chelsea; it’s just a shame about the result on the day because it was disappointing for everyone.”

Whilst on the pitch on Saturday, Irving was the West Ham player with the most touches [25], most completed passes [21], most tackles won [2] and most shots on target [1].

“Chelsea are a good team, with a lot of strengths and quality,” he added. “Their goals were really good, at key moments, and we weren’t able to get ourselves going or keep ourselves in the game which was frustrating. But the ideas the coaches are trying to implement are really good, and we’re doing our best to make it work. It just takes time, and I’m sure we can definitely turn things around into a more positive situation.

“Every game in the Premier League is tough, and we know we’re going to face challenges, but the quality of our squad will shine through. Liverpool is a tough place to go, but we believe we can turn it around at Anfield. Hopefully I can be involved and make that happen again.”