Temi Babalola has spoken of his excitement after reuniting with manager Chris Agutter, saying the opportunity at Gander Green Lane is the perfect next step in his football journey.
The striker arrives from Forest Green Rovers after an impressive rise through the non-league pyramid and believes Sutton can provide the platform to take his game to the next level.
“It feels good,” he said.
“I’m buzzing and I’m excited to work with Eddie again.
“We’ve done good things in the past and hopefully we can do even better things in the future.”
Having previously worked under Agutter at Worthing, the forward revealed the Sutton boss played a key role in convincing him to make the move.
“He told me it’s a great club,” he said.
“It’s a great place for me to play my football and a great stepping stone for me to carry on my journey.
“I’m just ready to go.”
Babalola has worked his way up through non-league football and says reaching this level is a reward for years of hard work and perseverance, having initially enjoyed productive spells with Woodford Town and Romford which catapulted the striker the heights that he realised football could take him to.
The goals soon followed, with the striker becoming one of the most prolific forwards at his level.
“It means a lot,” he said.
“I’ve worked so hard in my career to be here and I want to go further.
“But right now, this is a milestone that I’m very excited to be involved in.”
“My early days, I don’t think I really understood the game. I was just playing for fun.”
“But then as time went on and I played at places like Wembley and different stadiums, you start to think, ‘Wow, there’s a level I can reach.’
“That’s when I started to understand where football could take me.”
One of the standout moments of his career came during an FA Cup tie against Jersey Bulls last season, where he played a key role across both meetings.
“That was fun, on and off the pitch,” he recalled.
“I think we were losing in the first game and then I scored to get us back into it.
“Then in the reverse fixture I scored a hat-trick and everyone was buzzing.
“It was a really good time.”
His performances soon attracted attention higher up the pyramid, culminating in a move to Forest Green Rovers shortly after facing them.
The transfer came so quickly that even the player himself was left stunned.
“That was a whirlwind,” he said.
“I played against them and thought I had a decent game.”
“A day and a half later my agent called me. I’d just come back from the gym and was about to have a nap. He said, ‘No time for that.’”
“Then he told me about the move and everything happened in about 24 hours. It was crazy.”
Although his spell at Forest Green did not bring as much game time as he would have liked, he insists the experience was valuable and helped shape his next move.
“I know what Agi can get out of me.”
“At Forest Green I played a good amount of games, scored goals and led the front line, but football changes quickly.”
“I was hoping for a move in January and it didn’t happen, but now it has happened and I’ve got what I wanted.”
