The 17-year-old recently won Watford’s Academy Player of the Season.
It’s been some journey over the past couple of years for Irish midfielder/defender Bosun Lawal.
Just two years ago, he was humbly plying his trade for Bohs-SKB u17s alongside the likes of Evan Ferguson – who recently completed his move to Brighton & Hove Albion. Today, he’s the holder of Watford FC’s Academy Player of the Season 20/21 after a highly impressive season for their u18s and u23s.
The talented 17-year-old has clearly caught the eye of Watford captain Troy Deeney who didn’t hold back when expressing his admiration for the teenager.
“You know what, he’s got a little bit of (Abdoulaye) Doucouré about him,” said Deeney while appearing as a special guest on Watford’s End of Season Award’s Show.
“He can go past somebody effortlessly and keep striding – he’s got a big long stride.
“I thought he did really well. Three or four days after playing in the u23s, he played another 90 minutes and it was effortless to him I think.
“There’s not many young players that catch your eye and you go ‘oh, he’s gonna have a career’ and he certainly does that, yeah.”
High praise indeed.
Watford Head of Academy Coaching Barry Quin also heaped praise on the Dubliner after winning the award.
“He really does deserve this award, Bosun. He’s worked extremely hard, it’s been noticed all through the season and very, very popular player,” said Quin.
“People look at him and obviously assume his size and strength would be his attributes, they certainly are part of it. But he’s more than that, he’s much more than that. You know, he’s a ball player, can play in a couple of position, low maintence – a manager’s dream.
“The sky’s the limit – with the right opportunity, I think the sky’s the limit. I think he could go all the way.”
Lawal has quite obviously caught the eye of those involved with Watford FC, but he’s somewhat gone under the radar in comparison to other Irish prospects, despite his obvious talent from the beginning.
Neil Fox, who’s highly involved with St Kevin’s, was also full of praise for Lawal following his move to Watford in June 2019, saying: “Watford are getting a very good player and potential future Ireland senior international.”
Lawal has represented Ireland up to u17 level and could find himself at u19 or u21 level with training camps/fixtures coming up very shortly.
With Watford playing in the Premier League next season, could we see Bosun Lawal get some top flight minutes under his belt?
“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.”@T_Deeney on @BosunLawal3, the Academy Player of the Season ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/H4Nh7Bu42i
— Watford FC Academy (@WatfordFCAcad) May 12, 2021
