Former Walsall forward Aramide Oteh has joined Dagenham & Redbridge on a deal until the end of the season, with the Saddlers his most recent EFL club.
He has already opened his account for the Daggers, scoring on debut as they won 4-2 at home to Chippenham Town.
Dagenham move quickly, and get an instant return
Dagenham confirmed the 27-year-old’s arrival on February 7, bringing in a forward whose last Football League stop was Walsall, where he featured during the 2023-24 campaign. That detail matters for Dagenham because it is the most recent period of his career spent in the EFL grind, with the travel, the physicality, and the week-by-week demands that often mirror the sharp end of a non-league season.
Dagenham & Redbridge are delighted to announce the signing of Attacker Aramide Oteh on a permanent deal until the end of the season.
Any bedding-in period was short. Oteh scored on his debut as Dagenham beat Chippenham Town 4-2, coming off the bench and getting on the scoresheet in a game that swung sharply after the break. Dagenham’s own report credited a combination with Dion-Donovan Scott before Oteh finished from close range, a simple description of a goal that still says plenty about the kind of runs he made and the positions he took up as soon as he arrived.
From a Dagenham perspective, that is exactly the early evidence you want when you recruit for the run-in. They have not signed him for a long settling period, they have signed him to contribute now, and a debut goal immediately frames the decision as a practical one rather than a speculative gamble.
Why the signing fits the table, and the moment
The timing looks deliberate when you place it against the National League South picture. Dagenham sit 12th with 42 points from 30 matches, having scored 42 and conceded 36. That keeps them in the middle of a congested pack, where a couple of wins can lift a side quickly, and a couple of setbacks can drag it back into the crowd below. They are also level on points with Maidenhead United and Chelmsford City, which underlines how little separates the teams either side of them.
That context makes Oteh’s profile easier to understand. His most recent EFL football came at Walsall, and while he has had spells elsewhere since then, Dagenham are clearly backing the idea that a player with recent Football League experience can still make a difference in this division, especially when he is asked to provide direct running, front-foot aggression, and the kind of penalty box presence that can decide tight games late in the season.
There is also a logic in the contract length. A deal to the end of the season keeps the risk controlled while giving Dagenham a new attacking option for the decisive period. If he maintains the impact hinted at by that first appearance, they have given themselves another route to goals without committing beyond the immediate needs of the campaign.