City starlet Tom Adeyemi says that he’s ready to handle the pressure of playing for another former Premier League club after agreeing a loan deal at League Two side Bradford City.
Adeyemi, who joins Peter Taylor’s promotion hopefuls for six months, admits that there are strong similarities between his parent club and the Yorkshire side.
“Everything about this club, from the facilities to the manager to the players – none of it belongs in this league,” he told the official Bradford City website.
“But many of the teams see coming to this stadium as their cup final and will be more up for it than any other game. It was like that with Norwich after we went down.”
However, instead of fretting over the prospect of playing for one of the bigger clubs in the third tier of English football, Adeyemi is ready to embrace the opportunity and show former England boss Taylor what he is about before he returns to Norfolk.
“You have to perform every week and if you don’t people have the right to get upset. But there is no point in playing football if there was no pressure. I like to thrive on that.”
Adeyemi, who made 17 appearances in League One last season for Paul Lambert’s League One winning side, is determined to repay Taylor and his new club with the kind of performances which saw him win the “League One Apprentice of the Year” last season.
“My ultimate ambitions do lie back at Norwich but it’s really good for me to come to a club as big as this,” continued the 18-year-old.
“To play as many games as possible would be ideal for my development. Hopefully I’ll be able to give something back in terms of my performances and the results we get on the pitch.”
Tom Haylett, George Watts
Should Adeyemi impress during his six-month spell with the Bantams, it is then expected that City will look to extend his loan beyond the period which ends on January 12.
And Adeyemi says that a major influence in his decision to move to west Yorkshire was Taylor’s impressive track record in helping nurture young players such as himself.
Taylor had previously managed the England Under-21 side and was the man who famously gave a young David Beckham the captain’s armband for the senior side.
“One of the main attractions of Bradford for me was the manager because he’s got a great history of working with younger players. I’ve got aspirations for the future and hopefully he can help me along with that journey.”
Adeyemi made his debut during City’s disastrous opening day fixture last season, coming on as a substitute when the Canaries had already slipped to an embarrassing 5-0 deficit against Colchester United.
The game did, of course, finish in a 7-1 nightmare and the Norwich starlet confesses that it was one of the stranger experiences he has faced in his short career.
“It was quite bizarre but certainly something I’ll never forget. Just to be going on with the crowd already against you was tough. But I think I did quite well and we only lost 2-1 when I was on the pitch!”
With City having strengthened significantly in the midfield department with the arrivals of Andrew Surman, David Fox and Andrew Crofts, it is believed that getting Adeyemi some invaluable first-team minutes is the best solution all round.
At his age, he needs games. It’s as simple as that.
“It’s good for Tom to go out on loan to a big club like Bradford for six months,” said Lambert yesterday.
“It will do his development a world of good, and it will benefit both Tom himself and Norwich City. Peter Taylor will look after him and a run of games will hold him in good stead for his career.”
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