Grimsby Town have signed young Norwich City forward Diallang Jaiyesimi on a season-long loan.
The 19-year-old was signed from non-league side Dulwich Hamlet for an undisclosed fee in January 2016 and is in the final year of his current contract, having finished as joint top scorer for City’s under-23s last season.
Jaiyesimi, who can play wide and centrally, scored eight goals in 33 games for the young Canaries in 2016-17 but is yet to have a first-team opportunity.
The youngster signed a two-and-a-half year deal after a successful trial with City’s under-18s team during 2015-16, with Norwich claiming to have beaten off competition from several other Premier League sides at the time.
He now has the chance to impress with League Two side Grimsby, where former Canaries U21s boss Paul Wilkinson is assistant to manager Russell Slade.
Slade spoke about the signing of Jaiyesimi after his side’s Carabao Cup first round clash with Derby was abandoned due to heavy rain in the first half last night and the Canaries have now confirmed the deal.
“We’ve watched him play recently in a pre-season game against Sutton and he was really outstanding,” Slade told BBC Radio Humberside. “Powerful, really quick, can play on the left, can play on the right and can play number 10.
“So another forward-thinking player with pace which is what we wanted.”
The Mariners have handed the forward the squad number 20 and he goes straight into their squad ahead of Saturday’s home game against Coventry City.
Jaiyesimi joins two former City academy players who have arrived at Blundell Park recently. Goalkeeper Ben Killip, who also spent a season on loan at Lowestoft, signed following his release by Norwich and winger Sam Kelly was signed on a free from Port Vale.
The Mariners were relegated from the Football League in 2010 but returned and secured a mid-table finish in League Two last season.
Jaiyesimi is short in stature but has become a key part of the attack for City’s U23s, often popping up in the right place at the right time to score, but will head for north-east Lincolnshire looking to prove he can cope in senior football.
He becomes the sixth member of City’s U23 squad to go out on loan during the current transfer window. Carlton Morris and Ebou Adams are spending the season with League One side Shrewsbury Town, Northern Ireland youth international defender Joe Crowe is with Limerick until the end of the Irish season in October and right-back Louis Ramsay is spending the season with National League club Woking.
Striker Tristan Abrahams was also signed from Leyton Orient in a deal worth around £250,000 last week, before rejoining the National League side on loan.
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