New Sutton United signing Dubem Eze says joining the club feels like coming home, as he looks to kick-start the next chapter of his career back in South London.
The attacking midfielder signed for Sutton on a permanent deal from Bolton Wanderers after spending the last few years in the North of England, but having grown up in Morden, a stone’s throw away from SM1, it was a no brainer to take the next step in his career at Gander Green Lane.
After taking part in his first training session ahead of the now-postponed trip to former club Scunthorpe United, the 20-year old completed his media duties before sitting down with Sutton United FCtv to discuss his connection to the area, and the path he has followed since leaving.
“I’m over the moon, I’m excited to be here. It feels like I’m back home, obviously, being from just around the corner.
It’s good to be here and I’m excited to get started.”
“It was a no-brainer, obviously speaking to Agi, the gaffer, yeah, he just sold it to me, and as soon as I heard of the project and obviously I’ve seen how things have turned and how he wants to finish the rest of the season, it was a no-brainer for me to come and sign it, really.”
Eze revealed that conversations with Agutter quickly gave him clarity on his role within the squad and how he can make an impact, with the shift towards the possession-based style the Head Coach has implemented since arriving from Worthing bringing the qualities of Sutton’s midfielders to the fore. Now though, there is another body which has been added to bring extra quality in depth to the centre of the park, with the midfielder highlighting the attacking qualities he hopes to bring to Sutton’s frontline.
“He just spoke to me about where he sees me in the system.”
“Obviously, I’m an attacking player who’s exciting, who likes to get at people, to drive, run with the ball, and he sees me doing things in the final thirds, whether it be creating, getting shots off, linking up with teammates and, yeah, doing what I do best.”
“He’s been positive with me, and, yeah, I’m just excited to get on the pitch and show exactly what I can do, really.”
“I’m lively, I’m creative, I’ve got a trick or two, I’m skilful, I can beat players and I want to be positive around the final third.”
Having progressed through elite academies at Chelsea, Norwich City and Bolton Wanderers, Eze reflected on the lessons learned from those environments, playing at a high level of football with top tier facilities and coaching staff, where he also got the chance to play alongside current Sutton goalkeeper David Aziaya during his time with the Canaries, before touching on how his loan spells in senior football have helped prepare him for the demands of the National League.
“I’ve been at quite a few different clubs and from each different club you learn quite a lot.”
“Being at Chelsea from nine up until to whenever I left, it was a good experience playing with some of the best players my age in the country and then venturing to Norwich and then going up north to Bolton.”
“I’ve had different experiences, been on different loans, gained quite a lot from each different place I’ve been at and I feel like I’m now developing into a player that’s stepping into first-team football properly and this is a good place to start my career properly at Sutton.”
“First team football is tough as they say it is and different from academy football where results matter at first team level, but I feel like I’ve thrived being on loan last season in the National North and then in the National League with Halifax; were good experiences for me, kind of getting into grips with the physicality that first team football is compared to 21s football, 18s football.”
“I felt like I dealt with the challenge as well, and then this season would have liked to have played more on my first loan spell at Scunthorpe, but I still gained experiences of ups and downs of football and I’m ready to bring all the lessons that I’ve learned to here to Sutton and hopefully we can start to on then and see more results.”
Despite joining a Sutton side fighting to climb the table, he said was impressed by the quality he encountered immediately, and looks forward to the challenge ahead with his new club, outlining his ambitions both individually and collectively during his time at Sutton.
“I’ve trained earlier this morning and the quality is good.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s much of a difference in terms of the quality of players and whatnot, I feel like over at Scunthorpe, things were organised, it helped that the team had been promoted last season and there was a group that had known each other well and a team that was tough for me to try and break into.”
“But I know that here, from what I’ve seen so far, that there’s more than enough quality for us to rise up the league.”
“And it’s a big club, there’s no reason why we can’t be pushing up and building and getting back up towards the top end of the table.”
“I’m here on a permanent and I want to do as well as I possibly can and see what the future holds, whether it’s getting back into the league with Sutton or going back into the league myself as I’ve been with Bolton.”
“I just want to strive and just continue to push on in my career. I’m still young, I’m still growing, I’m still learning. I’ve got quite a fair bit of potential, so I just want to kind of realise that really.”
He also expressed enthusiasm about working under Agutter, known for developing young players, and with plenty of attacking talent already in the squad, he said is looking forward to building chemistry with his new teammates.
“ I’m just delighted from the first phone call, the first conversation I had with him.”
“He seems like a really top top gaffer and a top guy and I’m just excited to continue to gain his trust and show what I can do and hopefully fight on the pitch for him and get results for him.”
“I’m excited, I showed a few bits and touches in training today and just want to bring that onto the pitch on match days. But I can see the quality and there’s definitely elements of my game that work well with the teammates that we have here.”
“I’m just excited to get started and excited to show what I can do.”
