According to a recent report by the Daily Mail, Leicester City are among a whole of clubs monitoring the progress of Ronald Sobowale, who is the cousin of Bayern Munich and Austria left-back David Alaba. The same source has also mentioned that the Foxes will face stiff competition from West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Fulham in pursuit of the non-league talent.
Sobowale’s Incredible Rise In Non-League Football
Sobowale enjoyed a rich vein of form for the non-League outfit Whyteleafe and has made a name for himself due to his prolific nature in front of the opposition goal. He is currently on trial at Middlesbrough and is also being monitored by several English clubs as mentioned earlier. The 22-year-old is looking to follow in the footsteps of his cousin, David Alaba, so he will be desperate for a bigger platform to prove his worth at the highest level.
The Walton Casuals marksman grew up playing football with the likes of Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke at Chelsea before being released as a teenager. Sobowale managed to net ten goals in 11 appearances for the Bet Victor South East League outfit, Whyteleafe. He has gradually managed to transform himself into an ideal target man up front over the past few years and is now hoping to succeed as a professional footballer.
Leicester have a history of developing non-league talents into top professionals as evidenced by the recent success of Jamie Vardy in the Premier League. So we can expect the Foxes not to be shy about bringing Sobowale to the King Power Stadium.
What Are Sobowale’s Strengths?
Sobowale is blessed with blistering pace and is known for his ability to find the back of the net consistently at the amateur level. He is also quite useful when holding the ball up for others around him and tends to score a lot of goals with his head. Alaba’s cousin is a commanding presence inside the opposition penalty area and can be a real handful for the opposition defenders.
However, Sobowale is still unproven at the professional level, so the jury is still out on whether he has what it takes to make it in the English top-flight. At 22, he is still quite young and has a lot of time to develop into a top goal-scorer.
Signing Sobowale: Wise Move For Rodgers?
For now, Leicester should instead concentrate on bringing in an ideal back-up for Jamie Vardy as they are in with a chance of clinching a top 4 spot in the Premier League this season. Recruiting non-league players like Sobawale will be nothing but a shot in the dark by Brendan Rodgers, who has made a dream start as the Foxes manager. The West Midlands side are better off going for more tested strikers if they are to establish themselves as one of the heavyweights of England in the coming years.