Wilfred Ndidi: On Last Train with Foxes

Many would have put their money on Wilfred Ndidi dumping Leicester City when the 2015/16 Premier League winner were relegated to the English Championship penultimate season. Against all odds however, the midfield enforcer stayed on and helped the Foxes return to the English top tier. The Super Eagle on Wednesday was at the new Maracana Stadium, Ajegunle, Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government, Lagos State, where he opened a hostel, he built at the edifice. Kunle Adewale caught up with him and he shared among other things, his future at the King Power Stadium, Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier encounter against South Africa, his association with the Maracana Stadium amongst many other germane issues  

With the European season just ended, it is natural that speculations would be rife on the future of some players and Super Eagles      midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi is not an exception as his future with Leicester City is speculated to be coming to an end, especially with Serie A giants, Juventus, Lyon of France, Barcelona amongst some other clubs are said to be scrambling for the signature of the Nigerian. The former Nath Boys of Lagos player however admitted that some of these clubs have indeed contacted him but nothing concrete has been concluded.

“Yes, I have been contacted by some clubs but my family and I will have to look into which club and country is best for us and a decision would be made in the coming weeks. But for now I don’t know yet,” he said.

Asked whether it ever crossed his mind to dump the King Power Stadium when his team was relegated to the English Championship, the 27-year-old said, “I really felt bad when we were relegated but the thought of leaving Leicester City then didn’t occur to me because I love the team, they brought me to the Premier League, I have been there like for seven years, so, it was not my intention to leave then because I felt we can give the Championship a good shot at, and thank God things worked out well and we’re back in the Premier League after just one year.”

The former Genk FC of Belgium would however not forget life in the English second tier in a hurry.

“To be honest the Championship is hard. Very difficult. Having to play three games in two weeks at times. Play on weekends and weekdays, travelling up and down the country makes it very difficult. But it was a good experience because when you’re in the Premier League you don’t appreciate it. Relegation to the Championship was like an eye opener for us because we would never want to go down again. It was really, really difficult, “ he emphasised.

Meanwhile, Ndidi expressed his joy that what used to be shanties and dungeon had been turned to a big edifice in the form of the new Maracana Stadium.

“It’s really amazing what i’m witnessing here. In my days growing up and playing in the streets, we never witnessed anything close to this. I’m really happy to be here and see things have taken shape.  To be honest it is unbelievable,” he said.

On his involvement and contributions to the uplifting of the edifice, he paid special tribute to the man who came up with the idea of building the new Maracana Stadium and indeed funded the building and transformation of the Maracana Stadium-Yemi Idowu.

“Special thanks to Yemi Idowu, who made me to understand the need for me to come in after explaining to me the project and I promised to get involved which culminated to the donation of a hostel building for the kids.

“The facility is going to go a long way in developing sports in Nigeria. Seeing the kids play football you could see the joy in them. When we were growing we played on the roads and got injured but having a facility like this is a kind of encouragement to them as they see it as place where they can train and become future champions,” he pointed out.

Ndidi however is of the opinion that if players of his generation had facilities like Maracana Stadium to make use of, Nigerian football would have grown past what we’re presently witnessing.

“If we had something close to this during our days Nigerian football would have been amazing. We actually underate grassroots football in this part of the world. But when kids are nurtured at a very young age it gives them the confidence to believe in themselves to actually move forward because they’ve come to understand the structure at a very young age.

Meanwhile, ahead of Nigeria’s double-headed 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic, slated for the Godswill  Akpabio Stadium, Uyo and the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, Abidjan respectively, Super Eagles stand-in Captain, Ndidi, has admitted that the three-time African champions are under pressure to win the games.

“To be honest I think the team is under pressure because we drew our first two games (against Lesotho and Zimbabwe) which now puts us in a difficult position. If we had gotten wins in both games we would have felt much more better going into the games against South Africa and Benin Republic.

“However, it’s football and the pressure that comes with it is actually exciting because we know what we have to do. We know the games are must-win. We just need to stay focused, put in our best and try to win the matches,” the Leicester City midfielder said.

The former Nath Boys of Lagos player indeed admitted that the Bafana Bafana are a very good side.

“They are very good team going by their performance at the last Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire. They gave us a tough fight and the winner had to be separated by  penalty shootouts. But for me, the AFCON is past and we just need not look towards that direction again because their team then might be different entirely this time around. So, it all depends on us as a team and the way we want to approach the game,” he noted.

Ndidi is indeed counting on Finidi George to take the team very far.

“I think he’s doing  well with the support from everyone. The previous two international friendly games the Super Eagles played against Ghana and Mali in Morocco were very difficult for him because he was alone. “There was no assistant, he did everything alone- the tactics and analysis. Now he has gotten more support and I look forward to working with him. We’ve worked together before, he is an amazing personality, his tactics are really interesting. Going forward, I think he’s going to do well for the team,” Ndidi concluded.