Walsall correspondent George Bennett caught up with Norwich City reporter Connor Southwell to discuss loanee Emmanuel Adegboyega.
The Irish defender has arrived at the Poundland Bescot Stadium on a loan deal until the end of the season.
The youngster signed for the Canaries from League of Ireland side Drogheda United, who were recently taken over by Walsall owners, the Trivela Group
George talks to Connor about the defender, his qualities and what Norwich's hopes are for the remainder of the campaign.
The Irish defender has arrived at the Poundland Bescot Stadium on a loan deal until the end of the season.
The youngster signed for the Canaries from League of Ireland side Drogheda United, who were recently taken over by Walsall owners, the Trivela Group
George talks to Connor about the defender, his qualities and what Norwich's hopes are for the remainder of the campaign.
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00:00 Today is to talk about Emmanuel Adebayorga, who signed for Warsaw on loan last week. So
00:19 join the club back in the summer from Droghody United, who are obviously Warsaw's owners,
00:27 and Chavella have a 100% stake in. So a club that will hopefully now, through some of the
00:35 signings that they've made, are going to have a fair few dealings within the transfer market.
00:43 How much did you know about him when he first arrived on English shores?
00:48 Yeah, not a huge deal to be honest. I think he's an originator of this recruitment strategy
00:55 that they've got. They've got a head of emerging talent called Mariella Nisitaki, who has done
01:00 a lot of work in a lot of different areas to try and find some really good talent. And
01:04 that's the way that Norwich, historically, less so in the present, but historically have
01:09 tried to operate. They try and bring young talent through. They try and find players
01:13 maybe before they're developed in the hope that they could be the club to develop them,
01:17 add value to them and then eventually sell them on. And he is someone who, as you mentioned,
01:22 has played a lot of minutes in Ireland last season. And I think that the hope was that
01:26 he could come in and have a kind of settling in period with then a view to a loan in January.
01:31 And he's part of a stable of young centre-backs that Norwich City have on their books at the
01:36 moment. They've got a few in League Two, Brad Hills at Crinton, Jonathan Tomkinson at Bradford,
01:42 who seem to be really impressing. And he's part of a group, Jadon Warner as well, who's
01:47 still at the club, but I would expect him to leave on loan this month as well. So he's
01:51 in amongst that. But yeah, as you say, you look at his CV for how young he is and the
01:56 amount of football that he's been exposed to so far. I think it's natural that a player
02:00 like him with his kind of physicality and qualities and profile, he is the type of player
02:06 that I think would have flagged up on Norwich City's recruitment radar when they would have
02:10 been scouting him. And yeah, I know he's made a very positive first impression at the football
02:14 club.
02:15 Well, I mean, he's been there for a matter of months and I see that he's been named club
02:21 captain for the under-21s. So, you know, clearly he has made a very good impression.
02:28 Yeah, and I think that speaks a lot about his mentality and about how he's taken to
02:33 life. It can be a really difficult jump and Norwich have done it a few times. They've
02:37 had Adam Ida from Ireland as well. But in terms of the most relatable ones in this is
02:43 Andrew Omar-Van Verdele, who came from Ireland and similarly really impressed with his mentality.
02:48 And I think he didn't need a loan to get into Norwich's first team. He was almost kind of
02:52 thrust into it because of a really bad injury crisis a few years ago. So that's how it opened
02:57 up for him. Adam Boyega is probably going to have to be a little bit more patient in
03:01 terms of that first team action. But like you say, it's a really positive sign that
03:04 actually that leadership has been recognised and that ability to influence a group. If
03:08 you have that quality at a young age, particularly as a centre-back, then I think that stands
03:13 you in good stead. And that's why I think everyone from a Norwich perspective now is
03:17 looking for that next test. And the way loans work really at Norwich City, just to explain
03:21 this in a little bit of depth, is players kind of go through the system. So obviously
03:25 18s, 21s and it is at the point where they really are deemed that development football
03:31 is no good for them. Really, they can't get any more or squeeze any more learning out
03:36 of under 21s football and development football. That's when they then look to parachute them
03:40 and give them a loan to test them, even if that loan doesn't end up going particularly
03:46 well. They view that as a positive, if that makes sense, because of the experience and
03:50 that kind of the politics of fighting for a place, the willingness to try and get in
03:56 a team. And then when you get there, actually playing for three points rather than playing
03:59 on a training ground in front of nobody, it's a very different experience. And like you
04:02 say, he's had a taste of that in Ireland and I'm sure he'll be really hungry for more.
04:06 So like you say, he's made a really good impact and nothing speaks more about his impact than
04:12 being in that armband in the under 21s. It's a good group that Norwich have got at the
04:16 moment.
04:17 And having only watched a few minutes of him the other day, when he came off the bench,
04:22 one of the first things that is quite striking is a six foot three. It's two goals already
04:28 in nine appearances for Norwich. That's something else he'll bring in. Not just his strengths
04:34 defensively, but clearly he's got a knack of finding the back of the net.
04:40 Yeah, and as I said, just a really good kind of profile for young centre-backs that football
04:46 clubs look for. Comfortable on the ball, aerially very, very good. And like you say, that size,
04:51 that power, that's something that really, for all of the elements that you can coach
04:56 in the technical elements and the tactical elements, you either have that physicality
04:59 or you don't. And he does. And that means that adding those other layers are maybe going
05:04 to be a little bit simpler.
05:07 And again, it's something that will have flagged up in terms of Norwich City's recruitment
05:10 base and he has made a really steady impact. The 21s have had a good year actually so far
05:16 and he's been key to that. But Norwich don't look at results and they don't look at performances
05:21 at that level really. They do a bit more at 21 level compared to 18s, but it's not the
05:26 be all and end all. It's all about kind of individual development programmes.
05:29 Pushing players through the system and this loan will be really key. And actually, I think
05:33 there's probably a few fans who saw him sign in the summer and will be looking at this
05:38 loan move to Walsall, big club in League Two. I mean, it's a fantastic step for him really
05:42 to test and to see how he adapts to that. Because if he does really well and then who
05:48 knows, he could come back in the summer where Norwich are looking to trim the age of their
05:52 squad and make changes. They've got two of their centre-backs at the moment, Danny Barton
05:57 and Ben Gibson, who are going to be out of contract. I think they're going to be looking
05:59 to that cohort of younger centre-backs to try and step into that squad really for next
06:06 season and he's amongst those names. So it's a loan that's geared to test him and to push
06:11 him. And even if it's slightly above him at the moment, he doesn't end up getting much
06:15 game time. I think that they're very, very pleased with his progress in the first six
06:19 months and it speaks volumes, I think, of him and as you say, his mentality and his
06:23 character and his qualities that he's been able to take everything so far at Norwich
06:30 in his stride. And I think the hope is obviously that he continues that at Walsall.
06:34 I spotted as well that he's played once or twice at right-back, but he's been playing
06:41 in a back three, he's also played at centre-back in a back four. So Walsall at the moment are
06:47 very much set on the back three they're playing, but there has been times this season with
06:52 the back four. So the fact that he's versatile to adapt to different systems will surely
07:00 work in his favour as well.
07:02 Yeah, and like I said, that's all about testing them and pushing them and giving them different
07:06 learning experiences. I think it's the idea that actually that uncomfortableness, so to
07:12 speak, of playing at right-back, of playing in the back three, is that constantly changing?
07:16 I think it's keeping players on their toes, giving them different problems to solve within
07:21 themselves. So when they then either go on loan or they get released and have to go and
07:26 find a new club somewhere else, it gives them the kind of toolkit to go and survive and
07:31 go and make a career for themselves, whether that's at Norwich or elsewhere. And that's
07:35 really the aim of Norwich City's youth programme at the moment. It's a lot less about results
07:41 driven, it's more about process and individual players and what can we do for player X, in
07:47 this case, Emanuele Adeboyeaga, what can we do to him to make sure that he either pushes
07:51 up in our system or we get him a really, really good club in the future and we make a profit
07:56 on our investment.
07:57 So those experiences that you speak of are so important. And the fact that he is now
08:02 on loan, that suggests to me that he's adapted to all of those problems incredibly well,
08:07 because that probably shows that they feel at under-21s level, he's done with that now.
08:11 He doesn't need to do it. He doesn't need to play at that level. He's got no more to
08:14 gain from that. And to be honest, I think this was probably always kind of the plan.
08:19 I saw the first six months at Norwich more about adaptation than about a footballing
08:24 test with then obviously the January window and the fact they've got announced so early
08:28 in January suggests that this has been earmarked and worked on for a while to then get him
08:33 into an EFL club to then give him the test once the adaptation is done. So really intrigued
08:39 to see how he gets on. And again, it's one of those that you just hope and both of Norwich's
08:45 examples in League Two have been slightly different. Brad Hills has gone in at Accrington
08:49 and played almost every minute and been absolutely superb. Jonathan Tomkinson has been a bit
08:54 of a slow burner. He went in under Mark Hughes at Bradford, didn't get an awful amount of
09:00 football but then there was a managerial change. Graham Alexander comes in and now he's playing
09:03 a lot more and looking incredibly good. So again, he exposes them to those different
09:09 experiences even down to managerial changes and different cycles and that's really good.
09:14 And that's what they'll be hoping to get out of Adam Boyega's loan I would imagine,
09:19 that test and that different type of test to what he would experience inside the comforts
09:23 now of their Colney training centre.