NEW GULL PROFILE
Sam Jones – @samuellejones
Sam talks about the new loanee
Over the past few games, it has become very clear that Cody needs some help up front. He might be helping us Cooke the opposition, but he is human and humans get tired. Therefore the announcement of a new striker last Friday came as a gift from the heavens. Step forward Emmanuel Ilesanmi, or Manny for short, who has joined the club on a one month loan from Derby County. So who is our new striker, and will he be better than the last Manny who played for us?
CAREER SUMMARY
Manny, as I will call him, was born in England in 2004. He joined the Harrogate Town academy, and progressed through the ranks of the Sulphurites, eventually making his debut in 2021 in the EFL Trophy, where he played the last 6 minutes in a 2-0 win over Newcastle U23s. He then made his League Two debut in 2022 against Colchester and became the first ever Academy player to make a first team appearance for the Yorkshire club. He struggled to stay in the first team so loans to Scarborough, Basford United and Spennymoor Town quickly followed. He was released from The Excercise Ground in 2024, after making a total of 6 first team appearances. However, his fortune would change as he was snapped up by Derby County in July 2024 to join their Youth set up. He impressed in his first few months, scoring 4 goals in 8 appearances in the PL2 before being sent on loan to the English Riviera.
HIGHLIGHTS
Here he is scoring for Derby U21’s against Spurs in January of this year:
And here he is scoring the second in a 4-1 thrashing of West Brom U21s:
TALKING ABOUT MANNY
Paul Wotton in the signing – “I’m looking forward to working with Manny…He’s an out-and-out centre forward. He’s different to what we have already so hopefully it all goes well for him.”
TT Contributor Chris Wade after his debut – “A promising debut for United’s new Derby loanee. He looks big and strong and drove forward well on a couple of occasions.”
ILESANMI STATS
DATE OF BIRTH: 17TH NOVEMBER 2004 – 20 YEARS-OLD
HEIGHT: 1.88M
POSITION: CENTRE FORWARD
PL2 24-25 STATS: APPEARANCES 8, GOALS 4, YELLOW CARDS 0, RED CARDS 0
MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY
Most Likely To
- Provide a much needed back up to Cody Cooke. Our top scorer has been excellent all season but he needs some help. Manny looks like the perfect foil, reducing the pressure Cody and allowing him to rest.
- Poach a few goals. Based on the extensive highlights I watched (two videos) he looks like he has good movement in the box, and knows where the goal is.
- Be booked for being stronger than the defender. We all remember those Josh Umerah incidents…
Least Likely To
- Replace Cody Cooke as our first choice. The fact he’s only on a months loan feels like a “try before you buy scenario”, meaning we will see how he fits in and performs before deciding whether to keep him.
- Play alongside Cody. It feels like one or the other, rather than both at the same time. Would be a Moore-Blissett scenario again, which while funny is probably not the most effective.
CONCLUSION
After a few games with our strike force consisting of Cooke, Ash and Seymour (and Crosbie technically) it became clear that it wasn’t good enough for get us out of this League. Three of them were shipped out on loan and we reinforced up front with the signings of Young, Morgan and now Jay. However, a replacement/cover for Cooke has not been dealt with. Until now, of course. Hopefully Manny can not just help ease the burden on Cooke, but also provide a more physical number 9 up front. It’s only a one-month loan, which feels low-risk/high-reward to me. If he’s great, we keep him and if not, back to the Midlands for you.
COYY – Sam
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