Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru reveals the pull of Garry Monk for young players
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The former Manchester City starlet, who signed for Wednesday last month, was Monk’s first permanent addition at Hillsborough and kicked off a squad transition towards a younger, hungrier model that the Owls boss has said will take multiple transfer windows to fully implement.
An energetic box-to-box midfielder, Dele-Bashiru is expected to play some part in tomorrow’s pre-season friendly with Leicester City.
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Hide AdArriving in search of first team opportunity, the youngster said the pull of Monk’s reputation was a big reason for him choosing Sheffield Wednesday.
“The original reason why I chose Sheffield Wednesday was because I know his [Monk's] CV,” Dele-Bashiru told BBC Sheffield. “I know he likes playing young, hungry players and I felt like I fell into that dynamic.
“He has just told me to work hard every day, even if I am coming in and I am not feeling the best and getting little niggles. He wants me to work hard and be competing.”
On whether he expects to slot straight into first team contention, ‘Fizz’ said: “We will see how things go. At the end of the day, it is all down to me and the way I perform.
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Hide Ad“If I'm performing at that level where I could be starting, it's his [Monk’s] decision at the end of the day.
“I will keep working hard and hopefully I will get some games.”
Dele-Bashiru is one of three new faces that have trained at the Owls’ Loughborough training camp this week. Centre-half Chey Dunkley and playmaker Izzy Brown arrive with more experience, but it is the youngster that comes with plenty to prove, ready to make his way in the game.
“My one main goal for coming here is to develop as a player and I feel like that will definitely happen for me,” he said. “I feel like I am at that level now where I need more opportunities, more first-team games.”
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Hide AdThe younger of two professional footballer brothers, Fisayo is following a similar path to that forged by his brother Tom, who left the Etihad Campus for opportunities at Watford last year.
Having signed on what The Star understands is a three-year deal, it is a bold move for the youngster, but one he feels has come at the right time.
He said: “I have been at the academy level for a couple of years now, playing a lot of games for three years straight in City's Under-23s so I just feel like this was now the right time for me to make that step and next challenge for me.
“There is a lot of talent at City so it is always going to be hard to break into the first-team but you have always got to think about different pathways to get to that level and this, for me, was the right decision to make.”