Inside five days of the January transfer window, Carlisle United have landed two new recruits to boost their survival battle.
Latest into Brunton Park is 19-year-old Norwich City forward Tyrese Omotoye who has joined on a half-season loan deal.
Belgian-born Ormotoye had just been recalled from a loan spell at Leyton Orient with Norwich citing a lack of opportunities for the London club.
Carlisle’s first January signing Joel Senior from Altrincham was on the bench, and got 10 minutes, in the 1-0 defeat at Harrogate on Tuesday.
Ormotoye had represented Belgium at under-16 level, but since then indicated he would like to represent Nigeria, the birthplace of his parents.
Starting his career in the Isthmian Premier League with Cray Wanderers he was signed by Norwich at the age of 17, making his senior debut in an away game at Luton in December 2020.
He spent the second half of the 2020/21 season with Swindon, having enjoyed a rich run of scoring form in the Under-23s with his parent club (seven goals in 12 outings), and the then City manager Daniel Farke heaped praise on the youngster following his three Championship appearances for the Canaries.
Manager Keith Millen told the Carlisle website: “He’s a player we’ve watched and Norwich think a lot of him as a person and as a footballer. They loaned him to Orient for the first part of this season, but he probably didn’t get enough game time.
“Orient have a strong squad, they’re doing well, so that’s understandable, but he’s at a stage of his career where he wants to be playing in a competitive environment. Norwich want that for him as well, because they think he has real potential.
“We’ve been lucky, in my opinion, that we’ve been able to speak to him to progress this. When I met him I could tell straight away that he’s really hungry to be part of what we want to do, and that matters.
“He wants to come here and show everybody what he’s about, and he’s the profile of the type of player we’re looking for. He’s quick, a good size, athletic, and he likes to run with the ball and get on the end of chances.
“He ticks a lot of the boxes we want ticked, which is good for us, because we know we need to freshen up our attacking options. We’ve known that and we’ve talked about it ever since I got here.
“This is a focused player who I think will have a big impact, and I’m really looking forward to working with him.
“With him having spent time out on loan at the League One and League Two levels already he knows what it’s about and he’s looking forward to being involved with us.
“The first loan for a young player can be quite difficult, they can take time to adjust, but he takes it in his stride having been out from Norwich a couple of times already.
“Talking to him it was great to see just how raring to go he is. He’s excited about being here. I’m excited that we’ve got him, so it should be a good fit.
“I’ve spoken to Andy Hughes, who is part of the coaching set-up at Carrow Road, and he’s worked a lot with us in making this move happen.
“I thank Andy for that, because he’s a young man we’ve watched and monitored. Obviously if he’d played more games at Orient we wouldn’t have stood a chance, and I know Orient were happy to keep him.
“Norwich looked at what was best for the player, and the fact that Andy knows me as a person, and as a coach and manager, helped to sway him towards recommending this as the next move for Tyrese.”
