Oscar Thorn is a creative attacking midfielder that is a joy to watch more often than not. Even in some of the most challenging matches, he manages to get his name on the scoresheet and that included the U’s clash against Chelsea U21 in the Premier League Cup.
The nineteen-year-old cut inside from the left hand-side of the pitch before unleashing a powerful, curling low shot towards the far post that nestled in the bottom left corner of the net.
A few days after the Chelsea game, we caught up with Oscar to chat about his footballing career and his aspirations for the future. Having just finished training on a gloomy, windy day we meet him just outside Florence Park’s reception to discuss his past.
Reminiscing on his footballing youth, Oscar tells us: “I’ve been playing football all my life, since probably the age of three, four when I could walk.
“I was playing locally, my dad brought me to a football club locally where I’m from in Essex and then I got scouted by Arsenal when I was 10.
“I was at Arsenal from U10s to U14s and sort of feel out of love with football, lost my confidence.”
Oscar then decided to drop out from the Gunners’ academy and went to play at Billericay with people that he knew, and that included his now U21s teammate Ryan Lowe.
After spending some time at Ricay, Oscar joined Bowers and Pitsea before getting scouted by Norwich City.
“I was given a scholarship at Norwich U16s and was there for two years and got given a pro contract at Norwich for two years and then I came here in January 2023,” the midfielder says.
Our topic of conversation then casually switches to what made him join Colchester. Oscar makes it clear that the two things he looked out for the most before deciding to switch to the U’s were how good the academy pathway is and how close to home it was.
He says: “I was living up in Norwich and I just wanted to come back to home, so I could live with my parents again, be close to all my mates and be just close to home.
“And the pathway is obviously really good here. You see how many young players come into the first team, and I think it’s a really good opportunity to be here.”
As far as he’s concerned, his number one aim now is securing a place in Colchester’s first team.
“That’s all I’m focusing on right now and who knows what the future will hold for me, but my focus is definitely stating my name in the first team at the moment,” the nineteen-year-old says.
Oscar is also fully aware that in order for that to happen he needs to work on certain aspects of his game.
He says with a hint of motivation in his voice: “Whether that’s, like me and Matty [Etherington] talk about, improving my aggression off the ball, sometimes my final product can be a bit more consistent. But if I nail down on a few other things, I definitely feel like I could get a good opportunity there”.
As for his short term aims, Oscar just wants to get as many goals and assists for the U21s as possible.
He says: “I definitely want to be involved in a lot of goals. Goals and assists is my main aim, I’m an attacking player, that’s what I want do. So, just get goals and assists and just have a positive season.”
