David Omilabu: The exciting Crystal Palace U21 player of Nigerian descent

David Omilabu is a 20-year-old forward who plays for Crystal Palace's development squad. 

​One of Omilabu's most fascinating traits is the ability to score goals and assist teammates, which is a rare characteristic of a player of his age.

Wingers of his ilk are mostly known for their pace and mesmerizing skills but the fact that Omilabu can combine all of these makes him an exciting prospect.

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Omilabu registered a mouth-watering 21 goals in 18 appearances for Crystal Palace's U18s in the 2020/2021 season.

This got him a promotion to the U21s but struggled to replicate that form due to injuries in his first season, scoring 2 goals and notching 2 assists in the 2021/2022 season.

He seems to be back to his best this season, scoring 4 goals and assisting 4 times in 18 appearances in the Premier League 2.

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Another endearing trait about the Crystal Palace forward is his versatility. He is primarily a right winger but can play as a left winger and can lead the attack as a central forward.

It will also interest you to know that he can play as a second striker and an attacking midfielder.

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Not only is Omilabu versatile, but he is also efficiently versatile. In his career, he has scored 11 goals and registered 7 assists playing as a right winger in 33 games, scored 8 goals as a central forward in 11 games, scored 4 goals and assisted 2 goals in 6 games while playing as a left winger and bagged 3 goals and 1 assist in 3 games as a second striker. 

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Like most players within his age bracket, his game still needs more polishing and consistency. The fact that he has scored 8 goals and assisted 9 times in 55 appearances  in the Premier League 2 and Papa Johns Trophy for Crystal Palace's U21s is a testament to this.

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The good news is that Omilabu is yet to feature for England at any level and that should make it easier for the Nigerian Football Federation to convince him to play for Nigeria.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

Photo Credit : cpfc.co.uk

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