'He was too strong' - Rennes' Ugochukwu confirms he has been likened to Patrick Vieira

Rennes young star Lesley Ugochukwu has confirmed that he has been likened to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. 

The talented defensive midfielder was hoping to play for the Golden Eaglets four years ago but the Rennes native is now provisionally cap-tied to his country of birth, France after featuring in a European U19 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan in November 2022.

Ugochukwu comes from a footballing family - his father was a central defender and his uncle Onyekachi Apam used to represent the Super Eagles as well as Rennes. 

Still a teenager, Ugochukwu has already broken into Rennes first team on a permanent basis, playing 51 games for the Red and Blacks, scoring one goal and contributing an assist. 

He has already attracted interest from Premier League clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and a possible move in the future cannot be entirely ruled out despite signing a contract extension last summer. 

A box-to-box midfielder, he is blessed with excellent physical attributes, powerful and tall for his age,

Ugochukwu has admitted that he tries to model his game after former Manchester United star Paul Pogba and has been compared to Patrick Vieira. 

Quizzed on his role model, he told Onze Mondial : "I have always taken Paul Pogba as an example. My profile is similar to his. What he did during his time at Juve was huge.

"I have already been compared to Patrick Vieira. So I watched his videos. And frankly, he was too strong!"

 Ugochukwu turned out for the youth teams of ASPTT and CPB Nord-Ouest prior to his move to Rennes as an U9.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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