Nigerian Footballers in the English Premier League

There are currently seven active Nigerian players in the English Premier League. Let’s take a look at who those players are, and how their seasons are going.

Nigeria has been one of the most heavily represented countries in the English Premier League for many years now.

Players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Joseph Yobo, Nwanwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro and Obafemi Martins have reached a legend like status among their clubs’ fan base. At the moment there are seven Nigerian players actively playing in the EPL. Let’s take a look at them.

John Obi Mikel

We start this list with the most established and longest-serving Nigerian player in the Premier League, Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel

He is one of the last remaining Chelsea greats from Mourinho’s first stint as Chelsea manager, and has been at the club while both players and managers have come and gone.

He joined Chelsea in 2006 and when he first came at the club his natural position was that of an attacking midfielder. However, under Mourinho he was transformed into a defensive midfielder, and he has been playing in that role ever since.

His main responsibilities are to keep the opposition at bay and play short and simple passes. Even though this might sound relatively simple, his role is held in high regard among managers, and Mourinho has often said that by not keeping the ball at his feet for long, Mikel was speeding up Chelsea’s attacking game and dictating the tempo of the game.

Another thing which makes Mikel so invaluable for Chelsea is his professional attitude towards fellow players and managers.

He has always been patient and calm, even when managers didn’t pick him in the starting line-up he kept his cool and gave his all to the team when selected.

In Mourinho’s second spell as a Chelsea manager, Mikel only played occasionally, but still supported his beleaguered manager through thick and thin. His performances and behaviour for the team have been like like ZebraCasino.com bonus offers - always of the highest order.

Now that Guus Hiddink has been reinstalled as Chelsea manager, Mikel is having a renaissance.

The Dutchman has singled him out as his most important player in the squad, and his performance in the victory over Crystal Palace has been compared to a masterpiece. All signs point to the fact that the season for Nigeria’s best player will only get better and better.

Odion Ighalo

Ighalo is a 26 year old striker playing for Watford at the moment. He arrived in England in 2014 from parent club Udinese, after several loan spells in Spain and Italy. And with the way he is playing at Watford, people in Udine must be wondering why on Earth they let him go.

Ighalo is currently having a stormer of a season with Watford. He has 14 Premier League goals and 2 assists next to his name, together with 6 Man of the Match performances. 

He has scored a goal every two hours, which is phenomenal for a team like Watford, where defence is first and attack second.

He is a natural born finisher, but also likes to take on players and dribble past them, making him the ideal striker for a team where shot conversion is paramount.

Recently there has been speculation linking him to some of Europe’s top clubs, with Atletico Madrid as his most likely future destination. His performances, however, have shown no sign of the fame getting to his head syndrome.

Victor Moses

When Victor Moses chose to represent Nigeria at international level, many considered that as a coup for the African country, since he was one of the most sought after wingers in the EPL at the time.

His progress, however, has stalled in recent years, with his parent club Chelsea forced to loan him out to Premier League rivals in search for first team football.

Of course this doesn’t mean that the player, who is currently playing for the Hammers, has been a major disappointment - far from that.

However, his talent and potential have been so great, that back in his Crystal Palace days fullbacks were sweating bullets before they faced the tricky winger.

Moses signed a contract extension with Chelsea before the season started, and even though he hasn’t featured for the Blues regularly while there, they must see something in him.

The fact that he is home-grown also works in his favour and if he performs for West Ham and has a good pre-season with Chelsea anything can happen.

Peter Odemwingie and Victor Anichebe

We’ll group the remaining four Nigerian players into two groups -the squad options and the talented youngsters.

We start off with Odemwingie and Anichebe, two forwards, who are currently considered as squad options for their clubs Stoke and WBA respectively.

They haven’t been getting enough game time this season, and that’s expected since their clubs have better options that are starting ahead of them.

Anichebe has been more involved and has one start and one substitute appearance next to his name, amassing a total of 104 minutes in the Premier League.

Odemwingie on the other hand, has only made two substitute appearances and has played for just 20 minutes in the EPL.
Both of these forwards have obviously seen better days in the past.

Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi

We end the list of Nigerian players in the EPL, with what is currently the future of Nigerian football. Iheanacho and Iwobi are both forwards (the first is a striker, the second a winger), both are 19 years old, and both play for major English clubs (Iheanacho plays for Man City and Iwobi plays for Arsenal).

Out of the two, Iheanacho will probably see more minutes in the EPL in 2016 because he is the third choice striker in Man City, but has the injury prone Aguero and the inconsistent Bony ahead of him.

Working in his favour is the fact that he has taken his limited chances the best he could – by scoring crucial goals and impressing both fans and pundits. Should he be given more chances this season, he will certainly take them and make the most of them.

Alex Iwobi’s predicament is a little different. He is a winger in an Arsenal squad packed full of wingers.

He got several chances, while some of the key players were injured, but now that Arsenal’s squad is coming back to full fitness, his chances of making the first team won’t be limited, they’ll be non-existent.

A loan to Reading or some other Championship club has been mooted, and that’s probably the best thing that the youngster can do for now.

If he impresses there Arsene Wenger will surely take notice and think more carefully about Iwobi’s inclusion in the team next year.