Moses Odubajo has revealed that he was told he could leave Sheffield Wednesday in the January transfer window after a discussion with Garry Monk.
The 26-year-old signed for Wednesday from Brentford in the summer, arriving at Hillsborough on a free transfer following his release by the Bees.
The wing-back. who was brought to the club by Steve Bruce, has since made 15 Championship appearances for the Owls, 12 of those coming under Monk.
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The form of Morgan Fox led to Odubajo finding it difficult to hold down a place in the team, and he was left out of the squad that beat Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup back in January.
Speaking to the Sheffield Star, Odubajo has now revealed that Monk told him he was free to leave the club on loan in January, after falling out of the manager's plans.
Odubajo was to remain at Wednesday, though, in order to fight for a place in the team. He said: "I called the gaffer and asked for a meeting. Things were said back and forth and in a nutshell, he told me he wouldn’t stand in my way if I wanted to leave the club on loan.
"Initially I decided to assess my options and have a good think about things. It didn’t take me long to think there was no point continuing to do that when I knew I was good enough to be in the squad and play.
"It made me get my head down and stick at it and try to show everyone what I know I can do on the pitch.
"I started training well and before I knew it doors were starting to open up in terms of getting back into the starting 11, then there was an injury [to Fox] that brought me back into the team.”
Odubajo has since made only three appearances since rejecting the chance to leave Hillsborough on loan, with Liam Palmer and Fox both ahead of him in the pecking order.
The Verdict
Odubajo has been a bit of a mixed bag since arriving from Brentford in the summer.
He is particularly good at going forward, but I've always thought that in defence, he could always be a bit more solid and composed.
He needs to keep his head down, keep working hard, and he should get his just rewards sooner rather than later.