Wycombe Wanderers are one of several League One teams looking at Irish Centerback Emmanuel Adegboyega of Norwich City, according to reports from The Pink Un.
The 22-year-old has six months remaining of his contract, but has only appeared twice for Norwich’s U21 team so far this season following loan spells.
A short-term loan spell at Drogheda United in 2023 was followed by spending the remainder of the 23/24 season at League Two Walsall, where he excelled, before a move north of the border to Scottish Premiership side Dundee United, where he made 31 league appearances as they finished fourth, qualifying for Europe.
At Dundee United, he was a solid if unspectacular defender statistically, scoring three times from corners, making 1.47 tackles per 90, won 59.7% of his duels successfully, making 1.01 interceptions per match and 3.35 ball recoveries per match.
Vitally, however, he has experience in a back 5, with Dundee playing a 5-3-2 or 5-2-3. With Wycombe potentially switching to a back 5, with Duff choosing a 5-2-2-1 over the regular 4-2-3-1 to good effect, but in doing so, Michael Duff has also created an issue with depth at Centerback.
With Taylor Allen, Anders Hagelskjær and Dan Casey all starting versus Northampton Town, only Connor Taylor was a natural Centerback on the bench and for rotation, while Jack Grimmer can fill in there if necessary. Meanwhile, the only other Centerback in the squad, Declan Skura, has been battling injuries for much of the season and is relatively inexperienced in EFL football.
Combined with the fact that Taylor would be best suited playing in the middle of three centre-backs due to his strengths in the air and to mitigate his lack of pace while facing wingers, means that Adegboyega would be useful for providing a strong option at RCB, where only Casey has played at the moment, with both Hagelskjær and Allen being left-footed players.
As mentioned, he is entering the last six months of his contract, so could potentially be a sensible pickup for a low fee from Norwich to prevent them losing him on a free, but Wycombe would also face Rotherham United and Stevenage as potential rivals to sign the young centerback
Adegboyega would be a smart acquisition for the Chairboys; he’s excelled in both England and Ireland, and was solid in Scotland. Two other Scottish signings have begun to cement themselves in Wycombe’s team recently, in Caolan Boyd-Munce and Casey, who have both cemented slots in the starting 11, speaking to the quality of the Scottish Premiership even outside the big two.
He would provide necessary rotation at Centerback if Duff is looking to cement the 5-2-2-1 as the team’s main formation, but could also provide strong upside in the future if he continues to develop and improve.
