It's not so long ago that Andrew Omobamidele was the most promising young defender from Ireland.
The powerful centre-back broke into the Norwich side at the end of the 20/21 Championship season and earned a call-up to Stephen Kenny's international side in 2021. Omobamidele impressed on his international debut away to Portugal and has made four more appearances for The Boys in Green since.
Injuries have curtailed the defenders progress since then, with the likes of Nathan Collins moving above him in the Irish pecking order following his move to Wolves. Yet, Omobamidele has been in sensational form since returning from injury, and has starred in all of Norwich's Championship games so far this season.
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Last night was no different, as the 20-year-old left fans purring after an imperious display against Millwall.
The 'Kenny's Kids' Twitter page wrote the following about the youngsters performance, "They're calling it the best centre-back performance seen in a long time, Andrew Omobamidele made a serious impression on Norwich and Ireland fans with an exceptional display against Millwall last night. Tackling, heading, passing, positioning - he's got it all."
The 'Canary Cast' Twitter account echoed these sentiments by tweeting, "Andrew Omobamidele is a serious talent."
Many Irish fans were salivating at the thought of Omobamidele and Collins lining up at the heart of the Irish defence for years to come. Sam Morris was one such fan, saying "Nathan Collins and Andrew Omobamidele have what it takes to play consistently to play for a top 6 side. 2 immense modern centre halfs."
But the most important praise from the 20-year-old came from Canaries boss Dean Smith, who commended the Irishman on a job well done against a tough Millwall side.
"They got the ball forward quite quickly at times and Andrew had a bit of a battle, certainly in the first half and I thought he came out the winner within that individual battle," Smith told the Norwich City website.
"I thought he was good in the second half as well. Against a team that are physical, I felt he handled that really well."
Omobamidele will be hoping his rich vein of form continues, with Stephen Kenny bound to be keeping an eye on the youngster as the next set of Irish Nations League internationals draw near.
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