Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley claims it would have been a ‘sackable offence’ not to have reinforcements lined up for Jack Byrne.
The league champions last week swooped for Bohemians playmaker Danny Mandroiu in a move seen as a clear sign that Byrne is leaving.
The out-of-contract Ireland midfielder is weighing up his future over the Christmas period with interest from clubs across England, Europe and America.
Former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy wants to bring him to Cypriot side APOEL while Bournemouth, Stoke City and Colorado Rapids have all been linked.
Byrne also has a new Shamrock Rovers contract on the table, but Mandroiu’s arrival from arch rivals Bohs means the odds are stacked against that happening.
Hoops boss Bradley said: “It's my job to plan without Jack.
“If I turn around to the fans and the board in January if he goes, and we haven't talked or planned for it, it's a sackable offence.”
Bradley was speaking on ‘Tales From The East Stand’, a podcast run by Shamrock Rovers supporters.
And he continued: “We have to plan for every scenario. Please God it's with Jack but you have to respect that Jack has done what we brought him in to do.
“We got him back to his level and in return he helped us to be successful. With that comes interest and clubs who want to take him off your hands.
“We have to respect that and give Jack his space.
“I want to keep him but if Jack says ‘look, this is where I want to go’ then you have to say thanks very much Jack and shake his hands.
“Hopefully he turns around and says ‘no, I want to sign a new deal’.”
Mandroiu, an Ireland Ireland Under-21 international, was heavily linked with Rovers throughout the year.
It is believed that Dutch side AZ Alkmaar were also tracking the midfielder at one stage.
But Bradley is happy to get the former Brighton youth, 22, on board with Byrne’s future set to be resolved in the coming weeks.
"It hasn't been ongoing,” he said of tying down the Mandroiu deal. “We spoke a few weeks ago and said we would sit down at the end of the season.
“Once we did that, it was done within a day. I got a feel for him as a person.”
Meanwhile, Bradley revealed that he wanted to keep defender Rhys Marshall who joined Glentoran this week.
Marshall joined the Hoops from Glenavon at the start of this year but Bradley said: “We really liked him and we didn’t want to lose him.
“But he was having some personal family issues at home.”
