Jim Goodwin is confident Norwich City will let Emmanuel Adegboyega see out the season at Dundee United.
The defender, who netted in the weekend win over St Mirren, has impressed on United’s return to the Premiership and the Canaries have the option to recall him in January. Goodwin believes the vibe and it is likely Adegboyega, Luca Stephenson and Jack Walton, who are on-loan from Liverpool and Luton, respectively, will all remain at Tannadice for the second half of the campaign. The United boss said: “We’re in constant dialogue with Norwich and they’re delighted with the amount of game time he’s been getting here.
He’s still developing, as a centre back it’s usually by the time you hit 22 or 23 you’ve started developing physically. Norwich have high hopes for him so I’m sure they’ll be keeping a close eye on him with a view to him going back there.
“We have had the conversations about the loan players, their parent clubs are delighted with what they’re doing and the players are all enjoying it. There’s no talk at the moment of any of them going back in January.”
A big sales pitch for Goodwin was that he would help raise Adeboyega’s profile and help him get into the Ireland under-21 squad. He has helped him do that and believes he is repeating the rewards of playing regular football in the Scottish Premiership.
Goodwin stated: “Manny is doing great, when he first came in it took him a few weeks to get used to the pace of the game. But he’s adapted to it well and because of his performances with us he’s had his first Ireland U21 call up.
“The move has worked out great for him and for Norwich, he’s one of their top prospects so they wanted him out playing regularly at a good level. He’s been outstanding in the last two games he’s played, against Ross County and then against St Mirren.”
Adeboyega missed out against Rangers as Goodwin decided to go four at the back but has been back in since and scored and impressed against St Mirren. Goodwin explained: “Obviously he missed out against Rangers at Ibrox but I explained to him it was a tactical decision and he’d be back in the following week.
“He’s eager to play every game, of course, but he also understands that sometimes players need to miss out for the good of the team. He’s very mature that way and is eager to learn. He wants to take something from every experience.
“His concentration levels are something we’ve seen get better. There was maybe a little bit of slackness at the start but right now he’s a player right in form.
“Manny has all the attributes you want from a modern-day centre half. He’s got great aerial ability, he’s strong in the tackle, aggressive and is quick.”
Goodwin will be hoping that United can bolster their good start with another home win this weekend when Kilmarnock travel to Tayside. The game is likely to come too soon for Kristijan Trapanovski and Ross Docherty.