In this limited series, Balls will speak to those on the ground in order to take a look at the progress of three members of the Ireland squad who are attempting to establish themselves at both club and international level.
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Michael Obafemi's journey in football has been far from a straightforward one.
It has featured a breakthrough at Southampton, questions about his international future, an Ireland debut, persistent injury issues, an Irish exile, struggles after a move to Swansea City, a rediscovering of form, and a return in a green jersey. All of that before his 22nd birthday.
It may have taken longer than he would have hoped for, but it is clear that the young striker is now on an upward trajectory in his career.
Those who have seen him in an Ireland jersey over the last six months would have learned what he is all about. Obafemi possesses a huge amount of pace, having the ability to stretch opposition defences in behind. His link-up play is improving rapidly, while his eye for goal has also been obvious.
It's clear that he has a big future under Stephen Kenny.
As for his form at club level, his time at Swansea City has been a bit complicated.
The Arrival
He arrived at the club in the summer of 2021 with high expectations, something he initially failed to live up to. Speaking to Balls, Wales Online reporter Ian Mitchelmore recalled how he struggled to make an impact in the opening half of the 2021/22 season, scoring only one goal in the first six months or so of the campaign.
There were genuine off the field concerns from the staff at Swansea (early on). That sort of filtered through to the fans, who heard things said in the media here and there.
Russell Martin (Swansea manager) gave him a rocket up the backside essentially. Eventually it did click with Michael Obafemi. It took a few months to do that. We spoke to him a few weeks ago, and he is an infectious character and very likeable, you can see why his teammate do like him when he is on song with them.
He sort of addressed the issues about moving from Southampton, he was a young boy moving to South Wales. It’s not just that it was South Wales, it was Swansea which is very remote and not an easy place to get to. He was missing his family and things like that.
These things take a toll, especially for a player who is only 21.
The message being relayed to him by the club eventually did get through.
The Form
Obafemi looked like a completely different player in the second half of the campaign, scoring 11 league goals between the start of February and June.
The goals haven't quite arrived at that frequency since the start of this season, although Ian says that his qualities are clear to see.
Pace is the obvious one. If you’re playing him as a number nine, his pace in behind is frightening when he can trust his hamstrings. He hasn’t always been able to do that because he’s such an explosive player. His holdup and linkup play has improved when he has quality around him.
He’s such a young boy, he’s had that exposure with Ireland and he could be key player for years to come if he can hone those skills. If he can trust his body, keep in shape, and listens to what his managers are telling him, there is only going to an improvement.
Of course, there were some uncertain moments towards the end of the transfer window.
Recently relegated Burnley were interested in bringing Obafemi to Turf Moor, a deal the player seemed keen to see made. Vincent Kompany's side left it until late in the transfer window before making their move, making it a difficult one to pull off.
Three or four official bids were submitted, none of which came close to match Swansea's rumoured £9million valuation.
The Next Step
He was dropped for a game before deadline day, not immediately coming back into the side once the window closed. The fans were clearly not happy with the way he had handled the situation, although Ian said it seems as though all has now been forgiven.
I think he was under the impression that we going to go, there was probably someone in his ear that was telling him he was. The impression on the ground at Swansea was it was never going to happen...
He came back into the squad when they played at home to Hull City and won 3-0. He came on for the final few minutes and there were quite a lot of boos for him, I don’t think fans were too impressed with the situation on deadline day.
Then you had the international break and he went away with Ireland, did the little fingers in ears celebration when he scored (against Armenia). Swansea fans thought ‘okay he has played well for Ireland and scored a goal, lets let bygones be bygones’...
Maybe the penny dropped with him or something like that. It could have gone either way. He could have sulked and hankered for a move away in January, but he did the opposite and worked hard.
That’s good to see, because in those first four or five months last season you didn’t know which way it was going to go. Thankfully it went the right way as far as Swansea are concerned.
Heading into the World Cup break, Swansea City sit in eighth in the Championship and very much in the promotion mix. Michael Obafemi has scored only three goals to his name, but that doesn't fell the full story of his contributions to the team.
He works hard for team, helps his teammate, and does what is asked of him. That isn't something that has always been the case over the course of his career. As Ian also pointed out, that tally is two more goals than he had at the same stage last season. You can expect him to go from strength to to strength as we enter the festive period.
He has now linked up with Ireland ahead of the friendlies against Norway and Malta, where he will be expected to play a sizeable role.
How the remainder of Obafemi's season plays out remains to be seen, but we do know that his career is now very much on the right track. After some concerning periods, that is massively encouraging to see.
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