Football is a global sport; with this comes the international transfer of players away from their domestic leagues. Known as one of the biggest, most competitive leagues in the world, the Premier League has played host to some of the best players throughout history, including the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Among these stars are some of the finest footballing talents to come out of Nigeria – both past and present. This piece takes a look at some of the best players to hail from Nigeria and play in the Premier League.
Jay-Jay Okocha
Playing at both the highest level for club and country, Okocha is solidified as one of the best players in Nigerian footballing history. His flair and talent attracted plenty of fans in the English Premier League – one that happens to be one of the most watched domestic leagues in the world, with teams like Liverpool and Manchester United attracting the most Sports Streaming UK views. Despite playing for little old Bolton, though, Jay-Jay Okocha’s raw footballing talent still managed to steal the spotlight with the Premier League fan base, by whom he was labelled ‘the man so good they named him twice,’ cementing his legacy in footballing history.
The player also appeared in three World Cup squads between 1993 and 2006, representing the nation a total of 73 times. His national presence and sensational spell at Bolton Wanderers earned the player a number-one hall-of-fame spot in terms of Nigerian Premier League players.
Wilfred Ndidi
Currently slotting in as a defensive midfielder for 2015-2016 Premier League Winners Leicester City, Wilfred Ndidi is the brightest spark in current Premier League football to come out of Nigeria. Aged just 25 years old, Ndidi has been a game-changer for Leicester’s midfield with his ability to utilise his strength to take control of a game from the centre of the park. The midfielder has been linked with several big moves, including interest from Manchester United before they signed world-class defensive midfielder Casemiro.
Whether Ndidi remains at Leicester or makes a well-deserved big-money move is yet to be revealed, but it seems the player’s success and positive representation of the country will continue whichever path he takes.
Yakubu
Known as ‘The Yak’, this iconic Nigerian striker tore up the Premier League during his day, bagging 95 Premier League goals to make him the all-time highest-scoring Nigerian in the league. In fact, Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor are the only other African players to outscore Yakubu in the Premier League – his name is up there with some greats. Having spells at Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn, the striker managed to make his way around the league and establish his presence as a top-notch goal-scorer. He also used to have an awesome card on FIFA – one for the OG players to remember.
There has been some real talent to come out of Nigeria, and this is only looking at the English Premier League. This piece might align with a recent comment from Arsene Wenger, who noted that more support and investment need to be afforded to African nations in order to access the huge banks of talent hiding under cover of secrecy. The African heritage of generational players like Mbappe tells us just how much the footballing world might be missing out on.