Forest Green Rovers have acted swiftly to strengthen their squad following the departure of Harry Whitwell, signing highly regarded midfielder Chibuzo Nwoko from Premier League side Fulham on a season-long loan.
Nwoko, who turned 19 last month joined Fulham at the Under-12s stage from Chelsea. He made the step up to U21s football in the summer of 2024.
With Whitwell returning to his parent club West Brom, boss Robbie Savage and sporting director Mark Bowen have moved swiftly to plug the gap with the capture of Nwoko.
Reflecting on the signing and the club’s recruitment strategy, Savage said: “Chibby (Chibuzo Nwoko) is a six or an eight, dynamic, left-footed, you know, so highly rated. He was a player we were after in the summer and Mark’s (Bowen) relationship with Fulham, Huw (Jennings) at Fulham, as Mark was assistant manager there many years ago, they felt now he’s ready.
“So in a conversation with Mark, we’ve been able to get Chibby in and already he’s fitted in so well. I think the fans will love him. He’s dynamic, he’s energetic, he’s got a huge smile on his face and he’s believed in us once again as another young player. So he’ll come straight in.”
Savage also provided an update on further recruitment plans: “We’re hopefully going to get another one in on Monday. We’re in conversations with another championship club to get one of their highly rated youngsters also. We’ve just got to wait till Monday to get the weekend out of the way. And then we’re in conversations with a few more clubs. So again, the backing we have from Dale (Vince).”
On the current squad and approach to transfers, Savage added: “When you look at our squad now, it’s probably pretty low on numbers. But we need to get the right player in and make it work for us. So there’s no rush, there’s no panic. You know, we’re not just going to go into the market and pay over the odds for players and get the wrong profile. We’ve got time because I think we’ve got now a 19-man squad. It’s a little bit low, but we can’t rush. I think at times, clubs will rush and get things wrong. We’ve just got to take our time and make sure we get the right profile of player, the right character for this massive second-half of the season.”
