Tom Adeyemi

Norwich City

Adeyemi began his career with Norwich City, joining the club's youth system at the age of nine. He grew up supporting the club and was a season ticket holder alongside his father and grandfather before joining the playing staff. Having progressed through the youth ranks, he signed his first professional contract in November 2008 and made his debut for Norwich's first team on 8 August 2009, as a substitute for Matthew Gill during their heavy 7–1 defeat to Colchester United on the opening day of the 2009–10 season. Three days later, he was handed his first start in a 4–0 victory over Yeovil Town in the League Cup. Manager Glenn Roeder, who gave him his professional contract, described him:

"He's very athletic, technically very gifted and one of the nicest young men that I've ever dealt with. He comes from a lovely family, and academically he's incredibly intelligent – I don't think he got anything less than an A grade in his GCSEs. My son goes to the same school and the headmaster told me if Tom decides at any point he doesn't want to play football he can go back to Norwich School, get his A levels and end up at Oxford or Cambridge, and I don't think he means their football teams!"

In March 2010, Adeyemi was named League One Apprentice of the Year at the Football League Awards. He made seventeen appearances for Norwich during his first season, helping the club win promotion to the Championship, and was rewarded with a new contract set to run until 2012.…

The son of a Nigerian father, Adeyemi was eligible for both the Nigeria and England national teams. He has previously represented England at under-17 level.

Adeyemi was described by Birmingham manager Lee Clark as a "powerful and talented midfielder". Rösler assessed him as composed. Solskjær expected him to be "a top, top player" for Cardiff, as "a box to box midfielder [who] can attack and defend. He wins the ball really well for us, switches the play and scores goals as well". Adeyemi described his own playing style by stating "With my size, I bring a physical presence. I can break up play and I like to think, as all players do, that I can play a bit too. I think I'm quite an all-round midfielder in how I can impact a game."

Adeyemi was born in Milton Keynes, moving to Norwich with his family at the age of five after his father started a job in the area. He attended Norwich School. He declined a university offer from the University of Cambridge to pursue his footballing career, subsequently gaining A* grades at Advanced Level in Biology and Chemistry and an A grade in Mathematics.