Sligo Rovers can confirm the transfer of defender John Mahon to Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone.

The agreement with St Johnstone includes an undisclosed transfer fee, plus additional future-based terms.

Mahon made his debut at 17 for Rovers in the League Cup in 2017 before going on to make his league bow in 2018.

He was Young Player of the Year for the club in 2018, first-choice defender in 2019, helped Rovers reach Europe in the 2020 season and did so again last campaign when voted the Player of the Year.

He went on to make over 100 appearances for the club, despite being just 22.

All at Sligo Rovers would like to wish John success at his new club.

Sligo Rovers manager Liam Buckley said: “The consistency John has shown over a number of seasons has been fantastic. At just 22 he evolved into someone who could lead and most importantly defend superbly well.

“We’ve watched him constantly improve over these last few seasons because his talent is there to see. Again, John was someone who was attracting interest of clubs for quite some time as he is able to play at a level up certainly. We knew that would be acted upon eventually. He’s been a magnificent player for this club and we all wish him well at St Johnstone.”

Buckley said on his current squad: “We’ve made good progress on new recruitment and we will have more on that quite soon. It’s the nature of the business that squads evolve and change over time. We still have a huge number of quality players here and we will finalise this year’s group and I’m confident it will leave us well-placed to have an exciting year ahead.”

John Mahon said: “It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly five years since making my first-team debut for Rovers. It has been the biggest honour to play over 100 times for this special club and I’ve loved it. I hope you all saw what it meant to me on the pitch.

“My ambition to play across the water has always been there and the chance has come along which I feel I have to take.

“I’d like to thank the managers I’ve worked under and all of the staff at the club who work so hard to make it a better place for everyone every single day.

“In leaving today one consolation is Rovers are in a strong place and I know the club is on an upward trajectory. In the last two years in particular you can see the progress we’ve made and it’s been a pleasure to be part of it.

“I’d also like to thank my former club Ballisodare United for their help in developing me as a player and all of the academy coaches at Rovers from before I joined the first-team.

“To all of the Sligo Rovers fans and people in the county and around, I’ve been given fantastic support by you all. It was greatly appreciated by both myself and my family. I’ll be watching to see the potential of this squad reached, including the next group of young players coming through, and I’ll be another supporter watching and cheering you on. Thank you to the gaffer Liam and John and up the Rovers.”