Carlisle United have today signed Norwich City forward Tyrese Omotoye on a half-season loan deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until the end of the current campaign.
The 19-year-old has been recalled from Leyton Orient - where he spent the first half of this campaign - to facilitate the move.
Born in Hasselt, Belgium, he represented his country at under-16 level, but has since indicated that he would like to represent Nigeria, the birthplace of his parents.
Cutting his teeth with Cray Wanderers he joined Norwich City at the age of 17, and made his debut in an away game at Luton in December 2020.
He spent the second half of the 2020/21 season with Swindon, having enjoyed a rich run of scoring form in the U23s with his parent club (seven goals in 12 outings), and the then City manager Daniel Farke heaped praise on the youngster following his three Championship appearances for the Canaries.
We’ll have reaction to this loan move on the official website later today.
Manager Keith Millen said: “He’s a player we’ve watched and Norwich think a lot of him as a person and as a footballer. They loaned him to Orient for the first part of this season, but he probably didn’t get enough game time.
“Orient have a strong squad, they’re doing well, so that’s understandable, but he’s at a stage of his career where he wants to be playing in a competitive environment. Norwich want that for him as well, because they think he has real potential.”
“We’ve been lucky, in my opinion, that we’ve been able to speak to him to progress this,” he continued. “When I met him I could tell straight away that he’s really hungry to be part of what we want to do, and that matters.
“He wants to come here and show everybody what he's about, and he’s the profile of the type of player we’re looking for. He’s quick, a good size, athletic, and he likes to run with the ball and get on the end of chances.
“He ticks a lot of the boxes we want ticked, which is good for us, because we know we need to freshen up our attacking options. We’ve known that and we’ve talked about it ever since I got here.
“This is a focused player who I think will have a big impact, and I’m really looking forward to working with him.”
With him having spent time out on loan at the League One and League Two levels already, he added: “He knows what it’s about and he’s looking forward to being involved with us.
“The first loan for a young player can be quite difficult, they can take time to adjust, but he takes it in his stride having been out from Norwich a couple of times already.
“Talking to him it was great to see just how raring to go he is. He’s excited about being here, I’m excited that we’ve got him, so it should be a good fit.
“I’ve spoken to Andy Hughes, who is part of the coaching set-up at Carrow Road, and he’s worked a lot with us in making this move happen.
“I thank Andy for that, because he’s a young man we’ve watched and monitored. Obviously if he’d played more games at Orient we wouldn’t have stood a chance, and I know Orient were happy to keep him.
“Norwich looked at what was best for the player, and the fact that Andy knows me as a person, and as a coach and manager, helped to sway him towards recommending this as the next move for Tyrese.
“It’s important with that in mind that I try to work with him and make him a better player. The fact with that is that if he becomes better, then we become better as a club, and it’s that type of win-win situation we all want.”
With two signings completed in the first week of the window, the jigsaw pieces continue to fall into place as work goes on in the background.
“It’s good, we want the squad to be competitive, and when you look at the bench last night you could see that it was stronger numbers wise, and that we had good options.
“We’re going to need strength in depth, we’ve got a lot of games coming up, so we’re still looking to add more players to the group who will help us and improve us.”
