Meet Dan Nlundulu

The last arrival of the transfer window is finally a number 9

Well, the saga has come to an end. Eventually. It’s not been a traditional transfer window saga, where the whole summer is spent hearing about a specific player and a club’s constant back and forth on rejected offers, fresh terms, and contract disputes until an agreement is finally reached. But more one club’s fanbase and their total obsession on signing a mythical, seemingly nonexistent footballer: that sacred Cambridge United number 9.

And on transfer deadline day, despite knowing since about March that if you consider Ahadme’s loan deal expiring imminently, Fejiri’s constant injuries, and Taylor’s total lack of interest in playing football for anyone that isn’t Neil Harris then we would need to replace our whole strike force, we did it. And it was met with a mixture of muted disappointment and confused dismay.

Photo courtesy of Cambridge United

His name is Dan Nlundulu. He is a 25-year-old, 6-foot-1 inch striker who arrives on a season long loan from Bolton. Born in France, but moving to England when he was nine years old, he came through Southampton’s academy and made his way all the way through to the first team. In the 2020/21 season, as a 21 year old, he made 12 Premier League appearances for the Saints in a season where they finished 15th in the top flight. He also had 3 outings in the FA Cup, scoring his only goal for his boyhood club against Shrewsbury. This impressive debut season was rewarded with a three-year contract.

After signing his new deal, Nlundulu was shipped out on loan to Michael Appleton’s Lincoln City in League One. In what looked like an exciting loan move for the young striker to kick on, it didn’t quite go to plan. Gary from Lincoln pod and website The Stacey West told us more:

Dan has everything you want in a striker. he's big, quick (ish) and athletic, but it never worked out for him. We played a 4-2-3-1 at the time, he was the one, a lone striker. He was meant to be the one looking to receive the ball, rather than go to it, but he just didn't get it at all.

He seemed to struggle tactically, then just ended up being dropped by Michael Appleton, and his loan was terminated early.

That said, I always saw a player in there. He has everything you want and I'd hoped a bit of maturity might have seen him develop. I know he was a monster for Cheltenham in a two, when he was fit, and therein is the other issue. He arrived injured for us, got rushed in for a game against Man United’s kids, got injured again, and then when he came back he just never got going.

Whether the loan was terminated early or Southampton called him back as Wikipedia says is up for dispute, but either way his time with the Imps didn’t go to plan. The mention of injury issues is particularly worrying - it seems a constant asterisk that we have to add to all of our new signings, and considering one of the players Nlundulu is replacing is Fejiri Okenabihrie, the idea of our new striker spending considerable lengths of time on the treatment table is justifiably worrying.

The very same day Nlundulu returned from Lincoln, he was sent out on loan again, this time to Cheltenham Town. Despite only featuring four times that season with the Robins, he then extended his stay that summer, joining until January 2023 on loan again.

He was a mainstay in that Cheltenham side, scoring five goals in 31. Where his output is nothing at all to write home about, at least it shows a player who is at the very least available. Proof of an un-injury hit season, so it’s not all doom and gloom.

You might even remember him from this wonderfully taken goal he scored against the U’s a few years ago:

We asked Owen from The Robins Report to give us a bit of info on Nlundulu’s time down in Gloucestershire:

Nlundulu was probably best known for his second loan at the club when he was dubbed by new, incoming manager as our number 1 target - this raised a few eyebrows as this was a loan signing and somebody who we knew a little about but it was a little underwhelming to say the least.

Nevertheless he was ever present in a difficult start to the season. Scoring the winning goal for our first win of the season away to Exeter after 5 games. His celebrations saw him mauled by the away contingent and you could tell he cared and wanted to have a good rapport with the fan base.

Whilst the rest of his time at Cheltenham wouldn't be described as prolific all the goals he scored were of considerable importance: spurring a home win against Cambridge (sorry) after being a goal down, and grabbing a poachers finish in a tough 1-0 away victory to Shrewsbury. Thats 9 points his goals contributed to in half a season, before he was recalled and moved to Bolton. Cheltenham stayed up comfortably that season by 9 points. It was far from all his doing but he certainly played his part.

In terms of what to expect from him, he liked to be involved in a Cheltenham team who didn't see an awful lot of the ball. Dropping deep and wanting to take players on. Don't let his height and build kid you, he likes the ball at his feet running at players or on to through balls. Other than the relatively longish range goal he scored against Cambridge, he's most dangerous latching onto loose balls in the penalty box like a bit of a poacher.

I’m not sure how he's developed at Bolton and it was a weird move for him given the competition for places up front there at the time. He needs regular game time to work out truly how good he can be but I think he's a really steady League 1 striker who will run hot and cold, but always do his best.

That move to Bolton happened over the January window, returning to Southampton for just a day before heading up north in a deal that was clearly planned well in advance, with Wanderers having their eye on him to help boost what was, as Owen mentioned, an already stacked front line.

In the summer, he signed permanently for Bolton on a three-year deal for a reported £250,000. That shows a pretty considerable amount of faith for a club whose baseline for success is much higher than our own.

How did it work out? Let’s hear from Bolton podcast the Lion of Vienna to find out:

I'm still not sure about Dan Nlundulu, which is strange considering he's been a Bolton player for 18 months. Injuries and competition for places in the forward positions limited his opportunities. Looking back, the rumoured £250,000 spent to bring him in has not been a wise investment.

One thing that will strike anyone who watches Nlundulu is his effort levels out of possession. He was mainly used as an impact substitute when we had a lead in a game, with the instruction to harry defenders and rush them into poor decisions. He is happy to do the dirty work and let his forward partner reap the benefits. He seemed to struggle with irregular game time, and never found his feet in the side.

Nlundulu is certainly left footed, and his first touch can be agricultural (putting it nicely). His second and last league goal for us was the seventh in a 7-0 demolition of Exeter City last season. He celebrated like he'd just scored the goal to get us promoted, bless him. He was desperate to contribute, but lacked the quality and opportunity to do so.

I wouldn't recommend that Cambridge rely on Nlundulu as a regular goalscorer, but he will be a useful asset to a side used to being out of possession.

He's certainly a player that needs an arm around the shoulder, and Cambridge will see the best of him if he gets the encouragement and game time to cement a place in the side.

There are some positives to take from all of this. You can see why Monk would like him as a player to act as a foil for Lavery. In the opening games of the season we’ve all felt Lavery’s isolation was a big weakness in our set-up, and the description of Nlundulu sounds like it could contrast nicely. One thing they both have in common is their ability to harry defenders high up the pitch and press hard without the ball, something we know Monk will want from them. How he chooses to use Nlundulu and the forgotten Ryan Loft will be interesting to see.

The - I think, understandable - disappointment in his signing is arguably nothing to do with Dan Nlundulu himself. He is a player who clearly has potential, with a lot of appearances at this level under his belt, and might just need the right system and place to call home for it to all come together.

For me, it’s the way this summer has played out that acts against any excitement around Nlundulu’s signing. First, it was Assombalonga, a rumour starting in the depths of the messageboard but picking up lots of traction. Then it was Scott Hogan, the link with Monk again being excitedly whispered as a reason why he’d want to come to the Abbey. And finally it was Dwight Gayle and Conor Washington, deadline day rumours that felt like they had legs to them and for different reasons just made sense.

These are names we all know, with consistently good track records at higher levels, and an X factor that would give United fans a bit of much needed confidence going into games. But when rumours like this have been sprayed about all summer, and instead a guy arrives on loan from a team in the same division as you, who doesn’t have rave reviews or a good goalscoring record (at all, really), the disappointment was palpable.

Add to that the fact we go into the season (as it stands) with Lavery, Loft, Nlundulu and Njoku as our strikers - it feels like we’ve left it light. To deliver, one or two of them are going to have to have breakout seasons that defies their past goalscoring records, which we’ve seen with our own eyes in Ironside and Mullin is more than possible.

But if history has taught us anything, it could be a long season.