The Making of the Nigerian Robben
Little did the World of football know about Samuel Chukwueze before the 2015 U17 World cup games. He featured for the Diamond Football Academy in Nigeria before the U17 National team gaffer came calling. It was during the U17 tourney that the quality of the youngster was seen by the numerous scouts dispatched out to have a closer look at the youngsters on parade.
During the tournament, Samuel Chukwueze played as an inverted Right wing Forward (RWF). The Position which he made his own throughout the tournament cutting in from the right flank unleashing powerful shots or Robben-esque curlers. The pace and tricky of the player were his strongest assets.
Photo credit Wikipedia-Chukwueze
After a successful tournament where he was handed a bronze shoe for his assists and goals during the tournament, where Nigeria won the trophy, Chukwueze became a player in demand with football clubs such as Porto FC, Manchester City and notably Arsenal all credited with an interest in the services of Chukwueze but none of thes e clubs were willing to pay the sum Diamond Football Academy were demanding. When all hopes looked lost, Villarreal CF came along with a bid thought to be in the region of 50000euros for the services of the young Nigerian. After signing Chukwueze, he was immmediately added to the Villarreal B side and since then everything have become history as Chukwueze is now part of the Senior side and features regularly either as a substitute or a starter. Cazorla have recently claimed that Chukwueze is the fastest place he has played with, this should be a serious motivation for the youngster coming from a leader and Senior player in the Villarreal team setup.
The “Nigerian Robben” as the player is fondly called by his Nigerian fans is a regular player on the team selection sheet with the National team. He was a regular with the Nigerian side at the 2018 AFCON Scoring against South Africa to send the West African Giants to the final four of the tournament. He also made the team selection roster for the upcoming 2021 AFCON qualifiers before the recent outbreak of Coronavirus led to the indefinite postponement of all games.
Chukwueze may still be rough around the edges but he is definitely on course to emulate the iconic retired Netherlands international and former Bayern Munich star, Robben. He has age on his side and hence, can still improve.