Shaquille Gwengwe: Rising Star in the EFL

Shaquille Gwengwe has barely unpacked his bags in the EFL, and already the spotlight has found him.

Four goals in August, a League Two player of the month nomination and a manager who sounds like he’s already planning the next stage of his evolution. Not bad for a striker who, a few months ago, was terrorising defences in the Southern League Premier South.

From Poole to a promotion of pressure

Last season at Poole Town, Gwengwe was a ruthless finisher, racking up 47 goals and forcing people to take notice. Newport County took the gamble; now it looks less like a gamble and more like shrewd recruitment.

The jump from non-league to League Two is usually a shock to the system. Tempo, physicality, detail – everything ramps up. Gwengwe has treated it like an invitation.

“[It was] rightly deserved, with four goals in five games. He works incredibly hard,” said Newport boss Hayden Mullins, as the nomination for August’s player of the month landed. The numbers back him, but Mullins kept coming back to something else: attitude.

“He always wants to work on areas of his game which he feels might help him to develop. He's not come into the group and sat back; he's come in, and he really wants to push.

"He's got a lot to learn, but he's really open and wants to improve. His product is the by-product of all his hard work."

Wide man with a striker’s instinct

Gwengwe has made no secret of his preference: he sees himself through the middle. A No 9. A focal point.

Yet all four of those August goals came from a wide role in Newport’s attack. He has hugged touchlines, attacked full-backs, and still found the penalty area often enough to trouble goalkeepers.

For Mullins, that flexibility is a gift, not a problem to solve.

“The good thing is he is open-minded. Wherever he can get into the team, he'll play and try and do a job,” the manager said.

“He could be equally effective through the middle, but maybe we have to change a few things to help that.

"He's jumped a lot of levels very quickly and with every game he's gaining more experience.

"Once he figures out the different challenges at this level, there's no reason why he couldn't play as the nine."

That’s the long-term picture: a central striker who has learned his craft out wide, understands different angles, and can still finish like the man who filled his boots at Poole.

Respect from the dressing room

It isn’t just the manager who has noticed. In the dressing room, teammates have already started to adjust their expectations when Gwengwe is on the pitch.

Midfielder Ciaran Brennan has seen enough to offer a simple verdict.

"Shaq definitely knows where the goal is, so when he's on the pitch there's always half a chance that he might sniff something out," he said.

Game changer. That’s how Brennan describes him. Not a project, not a novelty from non-league. A threat.

Gwengwe’s nomination put him alongside Barnet's Charlie Larkin, Crewe striker Josh March and York City's Harry Boyes – the eventual winner. On this occasion, the trophy went elsewhere.

The bigger question is whether this is just the start. If this is what Gwengwe looks like in his first month in the EFL, what happens when he really settles into League Two?