Kingsley Ehizibue: Attracting Interest from Salernitana

With less than six months to his moving from German side, Koln, to Udinese, Nigerian defender, Kingsley Ehizibue could be on his way out this winter as Italian Serie A strugglers, Salernitana looking in the direction of the Super Eagles defender as a stop gap to their leaking defenceb

Italian Serie A side, Salernitana, are weighing up a move for Super Eagles defender, Kingsley Ehizibue in the winter transfer window.

Ehizibue left German Bundesliga club FC Koln for Udinese in the last summer transfer window. Since then, he has made 12 appearances for the club in all competitions.

However, his time at Udine may end very soon, as Salerno this reports that the 27-year-old right-back is a strong target for Salernitana.

The Garnets currently sit 12th on the Serie A table, an improvement on the placement the same time last season.

They are looking to add quality to the side and they have already signed Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

Ehizibue would also be a good addition to the team as he would provide some steel in the Salernitana defence that has conceded 24 goals this season.

The former PEC Zwolle man was born in Germany to Nigerian parents but he moved to Netherlands when he was two. Ehizibue featured for the Dutch youth sides, but he has switched allegiance to Nigeria.

The right-back, born on May 25 1995, never experienced life in Nigeria as his parents migrated from the West African nation before his birth.

He was born in Germany, and spent two years there, before resettling in the Netherlands.

Unsurprisingly, Ehizibue’s connection to the Netherlands is strong, having spent most of his formative years in the country before last year’s return to Germany with Cologne.

However, he has since switched allegiance for Nigeria despite having represented the Dutch at U-21 level, he’s never made the step up to the senior side.

He was brought through by the Bluefingers, so a special bond is shared with the club in east Netherlands.

“I feel like a Zwolle boy. I have family living in Nigeria and Munich, where I was born,” the defender stated in 2016, “but I only lived in Germany for two years and then we went to Zwolle.”

The towering right-back began his career on the flanks

Ehizibue is 1.89 metres tall, so usually players of his physical profile seldom feature on the wings.

However, that was where the 24-year-old began his career before his conversion by Zwolle coach Ron Jans.

Since switching to a defensive role, Ehizibue hasn’t looked back.

The gigantic right-back has made 2.7 tackles per game in the German top flight this term, which is one of the highest in the Bundesliga.

In fact, of all the players who have played a considerable number of games in the division, Ehizibue is in eighth-place, the only FC Koln player to feature in the top 20.

It’s not bad for a guy who used to be a winger!

The Super Eagles invitee was part of the Udinese side that lost to West Ham recently but said despite losing to the Premier League club, his side gave a good performance.

David Moyes’ squad defeated Udinese last Saturday thanks to goals from Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini, and Michail Antonio.

Roberto Pereyra’s goal gave West Ham United an early setback, but they fought back to create many chances and take advantage of three of them to defeat their Serie A rivals.

After the loss, Ehizibue, who received an invitation from Gernot Rohr in 2020 for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers, talked on Udinese TV.

 “We had a good game, we played well. We have to improve it’s true, but it’s normal, we’ll do it step by step. We have a strong team, I think it’s a team worthy of Europe. Even in defense, however, I found myself well. I’m learning a lot from my teammates like Becao, Bijol, who I watch a lot during training.” he said.

However, the defender is eager to return to action when his club plays Empoli in January.

“With Empoli we want to win. Sottil is a coach who talks a lot with me and with my team-mates. It’s good, even today he gave me many indications.”

The Nigerian international joined the Italian team from FC Koln last summer window.