Chiedozie Ogbene has been a revelation this season as a new arrival at newly-promoted Luton Town.
The Irishman signed for the Hatters off the back of their promotion through the play-off final last May, which sees them playing top-flight football for the first time in 22 years.
Though expectations were low that Luton could survive at the highest table of English football, they have surprised many with their exciting attacking play, and have managed to get big results against the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle, and Brighton.
They currently sit just outside the relegation zone with a game in hand, making survival come the end of the season a real possibility.
Ogbene has been one of the standout stars of the impressive run thus far and was highlighted by Jamie Carragher during a brilliant in-depth discussion on Sky Sports' MNF on Monday.
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Jamie Carragher lavishes praise on Ireland's Chiedozie Ogbene
Carragher and guest pundit Michail Antonio broke down the outstanding wing play by Luton in their 4-0 win over Brighton and 4-4 draw at Newcastle last week and singled out Corkman Chiedozie Ogbene for huge praise.
Ogbene ran rings around Newcastle's Dan Burn on Saturday afternoon, winning a penalty in a bonkers high-scoring draw. Carragher went so far as to liken Burn's torrid experience of marking Ogbene to his own of marking arguably the Premier League's GOAT Thierry Henry back in the day.
Wow.
MNF treatment for @EdozieOgbene.
The Premier League has finally woken up to what we've all known since his international breakthrough.pic.twitter.com/TqY4vKTMwM— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 5, 2024
It was a superb segment, which gave an in-depth insight into what has made Ogbene such an indispensable facet of this Luton team in their fight for Premier League survival.
Carragher acknowledged that the 26-year-old is more accustomed to playing further up the pitch and complimented Ogbene on his ability to slot seamlessly in at right wing-back.
He said that, alongside the rejuvenated Ross Barkley, Ogbene had been the standout player for Luton this season:
He's playing right wing-back - not easy for a flying winger normally but it shows he's got defensive capabilities as well.
I'll tell you what he isn't - a full-back's dream!
The reason I'm laughing is that I've been there. The way Dan Burn feels at the moment having chased this fella at the weekend is the way I used to feel chasing Thierry Henry.
He's in that wing-back role...you know when you're playing against a quick player as a defender because you don't even look at the ball, you just get on your bike and you go! You hope that ball in behind isn't a great ball...but look at that pace.
When I think about Luton players who've really impressed me, he is the one alongside Ross Barkley who has been fantastic.
Ireland fans have known how good Chiedozie Ogbene is ever since he debuted for the national team against Hungary in June 2021. At the time, he was a League One player with Rotherham United, having struggled to break through at Brentford.
That he has now risen not only to being a Premier League player but one being singled out for praise by one of the sport's most well-respected pundits, and being held in such high regard as to be mentioned in the same breath as Thierry Henry, is a testament to Ogbene's extraordinary progress over the past few years.
He is set to be a crucial cog in the Ireland setup for years to come and, even if Luton are to go down at the end of the season, one suspects he will still be playing Premier League football come August.
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