Gillingham have captured the signing of Republic of Ireland international, Aiden O’Brien, on loan from Shrewsbury Town until the end of the season.

The 29-year-old, who came through the youth system at Millwall, is reunited with Neil Harris who he worked under during his time at The Den, and will meet his new teammates at ME7 on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Crawley Town in Sky Bet League 2.

O’Brien made his professional debut in an EFL Cup tie away to Wolves in September 2011 prior to joining Hayes and Yeading on loan in the National League.

Spells at Crawley, Aldershot and Torquay were to follow but, after an 11-year stint with the Lions, for whom he played 226 times for and helped win promotion via the League 1 Play-Offs in 2016/17, he signed for Sunderland on a two-year deal in July 2020.

While at the Stadium of Light the midfielder featured 66 times and scored 12 goals, but on transfer deadline day of 2022 he agreed a move to Portsmouth. He netted five times in 17 games while at Fratton Park but, during the summer, decided to sign for Shrewsbury Town under Steve Cotterill. He has featured eight times for the club this term.

As for his international career, Aiden has represented the Republic of Ireland team on five occasions, scoring once, having also played for the U17, U19 and U21 age groups.

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.