CanMNT forwards Theo Corbeanu and Iké Ugbo secure loan moves
The ball is now rolling on what is hoped to be a busy summer of movement for CanMNT players, as a pair of Canadian attackers found new clubs on Tuesday.
First, Wolves forward, Theo Corbeanu, joined Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich on a one-year loan.
Welcome to GC, Nigel & Theo 🤝🔵⚪
— Grasshopper Club Zürich (@gc_zuerich) July 4, 2023
📝 Flügelspieler Theo Corbeanu und Innenverteidiger Nigel Lonwijk wechseln bis Sommer 2024 leihweise von den Wolverhampton Wanderers zu GC Zürich.#gc #zürich #traditionsclub
There, the 21-year-old has a huge task ahead of him, as he embarks on his fifth loan in three years, having had stints at Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons, Blackpool and Arminia Bielefeld over the past two seasons.
Across those stints, he’s battled inconsistency, too, struggling to carve out a regular spot at any of those clubs. He’s had some good runs of form, scoring six goals and adding five assists across 58 games across those loan stints, but he’s only played more than 1000 minutes for just one of those clubs - Sheffield Wednesday, which came back in the fall of 2021.
As a result, he slipped down the depth chart for Canada, with his last call-up coming in September of 2022, in which he played 11 minutes off the bench for Uruguay. Not only that, but that’s been his only call since July of 2021, too, showing the road that lies ahead for him there.
The good news is that the Swiss league is a good spot for him to find some form. Fellow Canadian teammate Liam Millar is proof of that, as a move from Liverpool’s U23s to FC Basel was huge for him, and now Corbeanu will hope that a similar move can be of benefit to his career.
From there, he’ll look to push back into the Canadian picture, while also proving that he’s worthy of a permanent home at a good club next year, be it back with Wolves or somewhere else.
Then, later Tuesday, Iké Ugbo also headed out on loan, as he joined Championship side Cardiff City from Ligue 2 side Troyes.
Our first summer signing is here! ✅
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) July 4, 2023
Welcome to #CardiffCity, Iké Ugbo! 💙#CityAsOne
After being rumoured to join a Championship side last January, it was an expected move from Ugbo, as he needed a fresh start after a rough season with Troyes in Ligue 1, where they got relegated. Despite featuring in 26 games in all competitions, he only played 975 minutes, just 150 minutes more than he played in the half-season on loan with the club a year prior.
As a result, he was only able to muster up two goals and one assist, after scoring five goals in that half-season stint, far from what many were expecting when the club made his deal permanent for the 2022-2023 season.
Now, however, he’ll look for a fresh start in the English leagues, to which he returns for the first time since 2019. He’s previously played in the Championship, too - he scored one goal and added one assist in 16 games for Barnsley as an 18-year-old back in the 2017-2018 season, and will be looking to build on that significantly as he returns as a far more mature 24-year-old.
He can score goals, as seen by the 28 goals he scored across the last two seasons before this one, but will need to find some consistency and form, which he’ll look to unearth at Cardiff.
From there, he’ll look to push back into the Canadian fold, as he’s yet to earn a call-up since the World Cup, where he was in the squad but didn’t play a minute.
Still yet to score across eight appearances for Canada, he’ll look to change that soon, especially as they remain lacking in consistent depth scoring options beyond Jonathan David and Cyle Larin, something that Ubgo will look to remedy going forward.
