The 2019/2020 season has seen it’s a fair share of Nigerian players blossoming in Europe’s football elite stage, while some have underperformed
Although there have been some performances below expectations, some have managed to improve their game, making them massively important to the teams they play for.
In this article, NRTC’s Oladipupo Mojeed assesses the performance of top Nigerian players in the top leagues in Europe. Reviewing how they fared throughout the season in their respective clubs.
English Premier League
Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City)
He is arguably the most outstanding Nigerian in Europe, proving to be unplayable in the Leicester team. He is the joint top tackler in the league, alongside Aaron Wan Bissaka this season.
This shows that he’s regarded as the ideal defensive midfielder. Looking at the back four in Brendan Rodgers 4-1-4-1 system, his importance was obvious.
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When he was out of action due to an injury, Leicester suffered in their top 4 race, culminating in the Foxes collapse, allowing Manchester United and Chelsea to overtake them in the battle for fourth place. Leicester ended the season in fifth. Not bad for club of their stature.
Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City)
Unlike his compatriot in Leicester City, Iheanacho has failed to seal his spot in the starting line up this season.
Fairly, it is almost impossible to displace Golden boot winner Jamie Vardy from the starting line up. Also, his return of 10 goals and 3 assists in all competitions in quite low.
This is measured in considering how highly rated he was following his move from Manchester City.
Alex Iwobi (Everton)
Leaving the immense pressure that comes from playing in an Arsenal shirt should have done the Nigerian a lot of good.
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But he has failed to live up to standard with The Toffees in his debut season. He scored 2 goals in his first 3 appearances.
It was looking like he started life at Everton pretty well, but he seemed to have hit a rough patch. This made the manager lose confidence in him.
He, however, got more game time under new manager Carlo Ancelotti but hasn’t turned things around with the opportunities presented him.
Odion Ighalo (Manchester United)
As the Red Devils came short in attacking options following an injury to Marcus Rashford in January, Odion Ighalo got a dream move to Manchester United on loan.
This made him the first Nigerian to play for the club. He was unable to start any premier league game this season, and yet to score or assist as well. However, his return in the FA Cup and Europa League has been crucial to the club.
He scored in his first 4 starts for the club. Going by the words of the manager, he’s also helped the club’s first-choice striker, Anthony Martial develop into a proper number 9.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Though Saka hasn’t pledged his commitment on the international stage to Nigeria, being of Nigerian origin puts him in the review.
The 19-year-old has had a wonderful debut season for the gunners. His attacking output has seen him being switched from a full-back position and played more as a winger.
He registered 4 goals and 12 assists for The Gunners this season and his performance has gotten him the number 7 shirt.
Spanish La Liga
Samuel Chukwueze (Villareal)
The starlet didn’t reach the heights of the previous season registering just 4 goals and 3 assists in all competitions this season.
This has seen him start fewer games this season for the Spanish outfit Villareal.
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Ramon AZEEZ (Granada, Spain)
Ramon Azeez will be involved in the UEFA Europa League next term after helping Granada to a seventh-place finish in the Spanish La Liga Santander table.
Azeez during the season where he also had a very good outing scored two goals in 25 league appearances despite playing deep in the midfield. One his highlight of the season will be being among the goalscorers in the 2-0 shocking win over Barcelona.
Italian Serie A
Victor Moses (Inter Milan)
Being an important part of Antonio Conte’s success at Chelsea, the Nigerian reunited with his former manager at Inter Milan on a loan move in January.
Playing a similar role to what he played under Conte at Chelsea, he’s helped Inter Milan finish second in the Italian top flight, one point adrift of title winners Juventus. Although he has been out injured, Moses seemed to be wanting to make the move permanent.
William Troost Ekong (Udinese)
After a bleak start to life at Udinese, the Nigerian Center Back has begun to find his feet in the Italian side. He made over 1.0 tackles and interceptions, and 4.33 clearances per game. His stats have made him seal his place in the first team, making 31 appearances this season, of which he started 30.
French Ligue 1
Victor Osimehn (Lille)
The 21-year-old has made a name for himself in Europe as one of the most promising attacking talents in the game.
He’s been massively important to Lille this season, finding the back of the net 18 times and registering 5 assists in all competitions for the French side this season.
His performances saw him seal a big-money move to Napoli this summer.
Henry Onyekuru (Monaco, France & Galatasaray, Turkey)
Henry Onyekuru, who played for two clubs this season – Monaco of France and Galatasaray and struggled.
Although his return to Turkey boosted Galatasaray’s charge to defend the league title, they eventually lost it. He played 12 games in all competitions for Galatasaray.
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