After a couple of months of speculation, 20-year-old Limerick FC winger Chiedozie Ogbene has sealed a transfer to Brentford. Reports last year linked Ogbene mentioned Aston Villa as being interested in signing Ogbene, while he spent two weeks on trial at Chelsea at the end of last season.
Brentford announced today, however, that they have signed Ogbene, subject to international clearance. Having spent a while on trial with the club, Brentford moved to tie Ogbene down on a three-and-a-half year contract. Limerick received an undisclosed transfer fee.
Brentford's head coach Dean Smith commented on Ogbene's signing to the club's website.
We have been monitoring Chiedozie for quite a while and we like what he can bring. He came over to train with us and we could see that his personality and character ticked all the boxes for us. We are looking forward to working with him and seeing how he develops.
Ogbene was born in Nigeria before his family moved to Cork in 2005. He graduated to the Cork City senior side quickly, making his first-team debut in 2015. Last January he signed for Limerick and scored eight goals as they comfortably avoided relegation, finishing seventh in the Airtricity League.
The right midfielder also spent two weeks on trial with Chelsea after the season finished. He was in sensational form this year, particularly during Limerick's 5-3 win against Bray last June when he landed a brace after two brilliant runs forward.
Eligible for both Ireland and Nigeria, the Cork-city graduate was also a talented Gaelic footballer, playing with Nemo Rangers until 2015. While always viewed as an exciting prospect in Cork and coming on during the 2016 FAI Cup Final he made the tough choice to leave his local club in pursuit of regular first-team football. That decision was very much vindicated last year.
