Rochdale boss Brian Barry-Murphy has admitting he’s been an admirer of Luton’s Gabriel Osho for a long time after the defender joined the League one side on loan until the end of the season.
The 22-year-old signed for the Hatters as a free agent in November, having turned down the offer of a new contract at fellow Championship club Reading in the summer.
Osho spent December out on loan at National League side Yeovil Town, before returning to Kenilworth Road to make his Luton debut in the FA Cup third round win over the Royals, the club where he came through the academy and made ten senior appearances.
After signing his man, Barry-Murphy told the Rochdale’s website: “I’ve known Gabriel since he was very young at Reading.
“There are similarities between him and Eoghan O’Connell in terms of them being touted as someone who’s going to be at the very top of the game by the time it probably came to this stage, but he had injuries and set-backs at Reading and found himself at Luton so I’m very grateful that Nathan Jones thinks that we can help improve his development.
“He’s a player that I have admired for a long time and when you get the chance to acquire someone you rate so highly [you do that].
“His qualities are there for all to see. It gives everybody in the squad a lift. We always try to bring in a recruit who’s going to have that sense of excitement for the players. Hopefully over the next nine or ten days we can add a few more of those guys who will give us a real lift and make us stronger in all departments.”
The 22-year-old made his Dale debut on Saturday against Gillingham in League One.
“There was brilliant leadership [from him]. He played last week for Luton in the FA Cup so he was up to speed in some aspects, but to go into a physical test like that, bearing in mind how the opposition play, I thought he was immense.
“To see him finish the game so strongly was very rewarding for us. He’s the type of guy we wanted to bring in and he can only enhance our squad – he fits our profile perfectly for what we want.”
