Stockport County's Jid Okeke agrees pre-contract with German side

Jid Okeke currently plays his football on loan with EFL League Two side Walsall. The 21-year-old's parent club is Stockport County, where he has been since 2023.

The German joined the League One outfit from Oldham Athletic, where he has often found himself out on loan. This season, the full-back has played twice for the Hatters in the league, picking up an assist for a 96th-minute winner against Huddersfield Town.

The majority of Okeke's campaign has been spent with Walsall, where he has featured 27 times. In those games, he has scored and assisted once. The right-back has impressed with the Saddlers this season, but his future does not lie with either Walsall or Stockport County.

Bundesliga 3's SV Waldhof Mannheim have reportedly struck a pre-contract agreement with the defender, according to @sportspeteo on X. The defender will join the German team, who currently play in the third tier, at the end of the current campaign.

During his time in England, Okeke has played for Walsall and Stockport County in the EFL, along with multiple loan spells in non-league. He has played for Chester, Hereford, South Shields and Rochdale on loan in the fifth tier and below.

The full-back has stood out this season, and his departure from Edgeley Park will be a missed opportunity for the Hatters, who would have liked to have tied down a talented young defender.

While Okeke has succeeded with Walsall, they will also be disappointed to have not been able to tempt the defender to sign permanently from next season onwards.

SV Waldhof Mannheim currently sit 10th in the Bundesliga 3 table, and they are looking to make future strides towards reaching the second tier of German football. The club have played in the Bundesliga 3 for the last seven seasons, after gaining promotion to the division in 2019.