Canaries defender heads back to National League for another loan stint
Timi Odusina celebrates scoring for Norwich City U18s in the FA Youth Cup fifth round tie against Newcastle in 2018 Picture: Nick Butcher - Credit: Nick Butcher
Young defender Timi Odusina has left Norwich City for a second National League loan stint.
The centre-back, 20, spent the second half of last season on loan at AFC Fylde and made nine appearances to gain his first senior experience. Now he has joined up with Hartlepool United for the remainder of this campaign.
Prior to that Odusina had been part of the City under-18 squads which reached the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals in 2016 and 2018, playing a prominent role in the latter run with two goals, when he was playing alongside players including Max Aarons and Adam Idah.
He was also named on the bench for a Championship game last season when the first team were short on numbers, remaining an unused substitute during a 4-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday in November 2018.
The Londoner then joined Fylde and although he was an unused substitute during the National League play-off final defeat to Salford, he did play the final 15 minutes of Fylde's return to Wembley a week later, beating Leyton Orient 1-0 in the FA Trophy final.
Injuries hampered the first half of this season however and Odusina returned to under-23 action in December for City, playing the last four matches for David Wright's squad.
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Now he joins up with his former Fylde boss Dave Challinor, with the former Tranmere and Bury defender taking over at Hartlepool in November after his time at Fylde had come to an end the previous month.
The Pools are 11th in the top tier of non-league but only seven points adrift of the play-off places ahead of a home game against Stockport on Saturday.
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Odusina will stay with Hartlepool for the remained of the season, with his Canaries contract due to expire this summer.
Timi Odusina was on the bench for Norwich City during a 4-0 Championship win at Sheffield Wednesday in October 2018 Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
He joined City from Arsenal as a 14-year-old and signed his first professional contract in 2016, with the club taking up the one-year option in his deal ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Hartlepool boss Challinor told his club's website: "Timi is someone I had with me last season at Fylde and he did a good job for us.
"He's a centre-back by trade though perhaps not the typical centre-back at this level in terms of size - but he's really athletic and very, very quick so he will allow us to defend high up the pitch and give us cover at the back.
"He's capable of doing a job at full-back when needed, he knows what I am all about and we know him so we've kept an eye on his progress and he's been doing well for Norwich's under-23s.
"We're really pleased we've been able to bring him in because he will be a good addition for us."
United have given Odusina the squad number 12 .
