Jake Grante
A powerful centre-back who has been at the club since the age of nine.
A powerful centre-back who has been at the club since the age of nine.
Jake Grante has worked his way up through the ranks at the Academy, having been at the club since the age of nine.
He is a pacy centre-back who enjoys being on the ball and has a good passing range. Grante earned his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland Under-16s side in December 2022 and has since gone on to represent the Under-18s and Under-19s sides.
Grante earned a scholarship at the start of 2022/23 and managed to make 20 appearances for Rob Quinn's Under-18s, keeping five clean sheets and registering two assists.
The defender's performances in 22/23 saw him sign his first professional contract at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign. He was a part of the Under-21s side which went on tour to Salt Lake City in 2023/24 pre-season.
Grante kept a clean sheet on the opening day of the 23/24 campaign in a 5-0 win against Southampton U18s. In February 2024, Grante assisted Sebastian Williams as he got the opening goal in a 3-0 win against Aston Villa in the U18 Premier League Cup quarter-final.
His strong performances for the U18s in 23/24 saw him make his first start for the Under-21s in their Premier League International Cup quarter-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers in February 2024. Grante played the full 90 minutes against Wolves, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win.
He assisted two goals in his second start for the U21s, in a 4-2 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League 2. This saw him finish the campaign with three assists in total from a combined 31 appearances (28 for the U18s and three for the U21s).
Grante also featured in the matchday squad for the U21s as they went on to lift the Premier League International Cup in a 1-0 win over Jong PSV.