Ademipo Ibrahim Odubeko was not supposed to feature in tonight’s Ringsend Derby at Tolka Park. The 22-year-old was not supposed to be leading the line for Shelbourne against Shamrock Rovers.
Not now, not ever.
Odubeko should be competing with Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Evan Ferguson for Republic of Ireland caps. “Mipo” seemed destined to be a household name by now, a bona fide Premier League star.
Instead, he has returned home to Dublin. That Shels signed him to a long-term contract only enhances the League of Ireland’s reputation. Two goals in three appearances for the Premier Division champions showed the value of Damien Duff’s dogged pursuit of his signature since August 2024.
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“I felt the love from him even before I walked in the door,” said Odubeko of Duff.
The Mipo Odubeko story is worth retelling. At 14 his family moved from Jobstown in Tallaght to Manchester. The City Group already had him on their books as he moved between Sallynoggin talent factory St Joseph’s and the wealthiest football academy in the world.
Enough went wrong at City that he swapped Manchester sky blue for red.
Odubeko was prolific for the Manchester United under-18s over three seasons, yet he was left out of the under-17 European Championships held in Tallaght in 2019 where Colin O’Brien’s side failed to escape their group.
“Mipo was streetwise but from a great family,” explains Bernard Byrne, Odubeko’s coach at St Joseph’s. “Up to under-14, he was the standout player in the league, a proper goal scorer, better even than Troy.”
What followed is worryingly similar to the experiences of Aaron Connolly, Idah and Parrott at other Premier League clubs. With Mason Greenwood storming through the ranks at United, Odubeko chose West Ham and the guidance of David Moyes over Old Trafford during the Ole Gunnar Solskjær years.
Rumours of him declaring for Nigeria or England were blown out of proportion, according to his agent Gbolahan Adarabioyo, although interest from Juventus and Bayern Munich indicated that the Hammers had secured an elite prospect. Fifteen goals in 18 games for the under-23s prompted Moyes to use him off the bench in the FA Cup against Stockport and Manchester United in late 2021.
That’s when the trail went cold. The Premier League debut never happened despite West Ham having only one striker in Michail Antonio as Moyes turned to proven international wingers Andriy Yarmolenko and Jarrod Bowen.
Picking the right move away from a big club can define a young player’s career. Usually, they are loaned to an EFL Championship or League One side.
Parrott took less money in the Dutch Eredivisie instead of taking his chances in the English lower leagues. He has 17 goals for AZ Alkmaar this season and gets a chance next month to knock his former club Tottenham Hotspur out of the Europa League. Idah also saw the writing on the wall at Norwich City, going to Celtic where he has 13 goals including four in the Champions League. Connolly’s progress was stalled by alcohol addiction but the 25-year-old is back competing for minutes at Millwall with former Shamrock Rovers youth player Aidomo Emakhu.
Unsuccessful loans to Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and Port Vale were punctuated by the odd spectacular goal before Odubeko was convinced to sign a two-year deal with Marítimo in the Portuguese second division. That bizarre move was abandoned after 12 months and the downward spiral continued when a one-year agreement with Fleetwood Town was cancelled after just four months.
“Football is a toxic industry,” adds Byrne. “If parents knew a lot of the stuff they wouldn’t be pushing their children into it. Obviously, it is also a very lucrative business if you can be successful. But some of the stuff that happens on the way up is very difficult for young boys to deal with. Now Mipo is 22 and he has already dealt with all that crap, he is going to be much stronger mentally.”
The move to Fleetwood, Waterford’s parent club, put several League of Ireland managers on alert but Odubeko warmed to Duff taking the time to map out a future that included the potential for international football.
Heimir Hallgrímsson will presumably be watching after Rovers’ manager Stephen Bradley criticised the Ireland manager’s suggestion that the best way to be capped is to escape the domestic scene.
Odubeko could test the Hallgrímsson theory in 2025.
“I live a very simple life,” he said after scoring the winner against Waterford last Friday. “I go to training, I come home, I eat, I sleep. Whether I am in Dublin or in England, I’d still be living my life the same way. It feels good to be home, but it feels ... normal.”
In any other era, a former Manchester United teenager joining Shelbourne would be the last chapter in a cautionary tale.
“When Mipo starts scoring goals for Shels there will be renewed interest from England and abroad,” predicts Byrne. “If he wants to go.”
Up Next
The Friends of the Rebel Army Society (Foras) have called on Cork City’s majority shareholder Dermot Usher to reconsider making Turners’ Cross the “most expensive” ticket in the League of Ireland. Usher has defended the price hike for adults from €16 to €25, an increase for seniors and juveniles from €10 to €18 and doubling a child’s ticket to €10 since Cork returned to the premier division.
“I believe the pricing is fair,” he told the Currency. “I can’t build a business or a club around what people can’t afford to pay. If you can’t afford to come to a game, come and volunteer.”
With Shels versus Rovers at Tolka sold out, the roaming Dublin football fan can pay €18 for a spot on the Camac terrace in Richmond Park where St Patrick’s Athletic entertain Sligo Rovers. By way of comparison, it is €12 for a seat at either end of the Aviva Stadium when Leinster host Cardiff on Saturday.
