The decision of Wilfred Onyinye Ndidi to take football as a career did not go down well with his parents, who wanted their son to grow up to become either a doctor, an engineer or lawyer. Like most Nigerian parents.
His father, an army officer and a disciplinarian, tried all he could to curb his son of his football craze, but the young Wilfred would not just allow the strong arm of his father to put a hold to his dream, as he would sneak out of their house at the Ikeja Military Cantonment in Lagos to join his peers in the round leather game.
Starting out at the dusty football field of the Army Barracks, today, Wilfred has carved a niche for himself as one of the finest footballers from the African continent. His skills, power, precision, tackling and ball distribution skills has easily seen him rated amongst the best when it comes to defensive midfielders n Europe.
A mention of African footballers plying their trades in Europe will not be complete without the mecurial midfielder who currently plies his trade with Leicester City Football Club in the English Premier League.
However, despite Ndidi’s pedigree, little is known about his personal life outside football.
In this article, News Round The Clock’s Oladipupo Mojeed will shed some light to what you probably did not know about the 24-year-old soccer star.
Profile
Wilfred Onyinye Ndidi is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a holding midfielder for Premier League club, Leicester City, and the Nigerian National team.
Ndidi is widely recognised as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League, and is known for his defensive prowess and long range shots.
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Wilfred Ndidi’s Background
Ndidi was born in Lagos, Nigeria on 16 December, 1996. He is a native of Delta State, Nigeria. But grew up in Lagos till the age of 17, when he moved to Belgium. And was raised along with his two sisters by foster parents, Theo and Marleen Van Vlierden.
At the early stage of his career, Ndidi played for Nath Boys Academy, a club he joined at 14 years of age and the Nigerian Youth team before moving to Genk in 2015, a Belgian Pro League team.
Personal Life
The Super Eagles star is happily married to his longtime girlfriend, Dinma Fortune, and the two tied the knot in May 2019, in Abuja and are blessed with a year old daughter.
Outside of football, Ndidi is back in school, studying for a business degree at the De Montfort University in Leicester. He revealed that his wife pushed him to enroll in school. Dinma, his wife, has a master’s degree in International Crime, Tourism and Global Security from Coventry University.
Financial Worth
Ndidi moved to Leicester City in a deal worth €17 million in 2017 after a year with Genk in the Belgian Pro League. He’s on a contract that runs until June 2024. He is currently valued at 60 million pounds and earns around €91 thousand pounds weekly. Which amounts to about €4.5 million yearly salary. His net worth is placed at €30.3 million.
Lifestyle
From what is known, Ndidi lives a frugal lifestyle, and espite his high income, he only owns a BMW X3 car which he was pictured with in Lagos. He also bought a Mercedez Benz for his wife.
The Super Eagles midfielder currently lives in a 3-bedroom apartment in Leicester City, 10 minutes away from The King Power Stadium, his club’s home ground.
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