Aside Anglo-Nigerian Fulham defender, Tosin Adarabioyo, whose team currently place eighth on the Premier League log, all other Nigerians playing in the English top flight are playing for struggling sides with high probability of getting relegated at the end of the season. With Samuel Chukwueze warming for a move to Everton from his ‘comfort zone’, Villarreal, another Super Eagle may be coming to England not to win laurel but battle relegation
Everton closed in on a blockbuster eleventh-hour signing as they’re set to acquire the services of Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Toffees are just one step away from securing the signing of the 23-year-old.
The Toffees only intensified their negotiations from August 30 and reached an agreement in principle to sign the Nigerian.
The Toffees haven’t won a game in the Premier League so far this season. Frank Lampard is bolstering his squad to convert those draws and losses into wins, and Chukwueze could become one of their most exciting signings in a while.
The report from the Spanish outlet has revealed that a deal has been agreed between Everton and Villarreal for the transfer of Chukwueze.
The Nigerian winger is now set to join the Toffees on a season-long loan deal by tomorrow’s deadline. Everton, however, will be obligated to make this deal permanent next summer – for an already-agreed-upon fee of £38.8 million.
That’s not a bad sum at all for Everton, considering that he’s still only 23 and his current contract includes a release clause that stands at an eye-watering £69 million.
The report further reveals that Villarreal hadn’t heard anything about Everton’s interest in Chukwueze until Tuesday. However, once contact was made, almost everything was agreed upon very quickly, and it looks like the deal will go through now.
Everton certainly need all the help that they can get, and Chukwueze would be a really exciting signing. This deal certainly raises alarm bells over the future of Gordon who himself has been linked with a big-money move to Chelsea.
It was understood that the Toffees were not keen on letting him go, but the fact that they’re looking at Chukwueze for astounding sums of money suggests that Gordon’s future may not be secured just yet.
It’s surprising to see Everton suddenly agree a deal to sign a player when he wasn’t being chased the entire summer.
Hopefully, the board are signing him regardless of what happens to Gordon and in an ideal world, the two can be on opposite flanks with Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line.
Everton really look to be making some big moves so late on in the window and we cannot wait to see if they manage to get this deal over the line. Only recently did they open contact with the La Liga club to sign him and things appear to have progressed at such a quick rate that an announcement may soon be imminent.
If so, he will undoubtedly be one of the biggest signings in the club’s history in terms of finances.
The Nigerian is absolutely rapid and is a very good dribbler as well. He can score goals, create chances and the fact that he’s still only 23 means he will only get better in the coming years.
Everton have a fantastic left-winger in Anthony Gordon. The youngster is the Toffees’ biggest threat at the moment, and if Chukwueze comes in on the opposite side, the Merseysiders could become a really dangerous side.
If this deal goes through, it will be really exciting to see how Chukwueze will fare in the Premier League.
Chukwueze was snapped up by the Spanish top-flight team from Diamond Football Academy thanks to his impressive outing where he helped the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria win the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup in Chile.
There, he was named third-best player behind Johannes Eggestein and compatriot Victor Osimhen. Having impressed for the club’s reserves in the third tier, he was promoted to the senior team – making his debut in a Europa League game against Rangers – as manager Javi Calleja brought him in as a 79th-minute replacement for Nicola Sansone.
Since then, he has been a regular in the Yellow Submarine setup, while accentuating his importance to the team with eye-catching performances.
Days after winning the Bronze Ball – on the strength of three goals and three assists – and helping Nigeria win a fifth U-17 world title, football agency Stellar Group signed Chukwueze and three other players from the Nigerian squad.
The deal saw the highly sought-after star, who models his game on Arjen Robben, sign for a top European club, as those before him had done.
The only snag that hindered a potential move abroad very early was his age, as the attacker 16, and would have to wait for two years before he could sign professional terms.
The teenager returned home while awaiting news from his agents about a potential career move and kept busy by shuttling between training and playing for Diamond Academy and the Nigeria U-20s, who were involved in the qualification for the ill-fated 2017 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
After celebrating his 17th birthday, he seemed poised to join Arsenal alongside Nwakali, who signed a five-year contract with the Gunners.
However, Diamond Academy pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute, and Chukwueze began to slip out of the limelight, a situation made more challenging by his Golden Eaglets teammates of lesser profiles securing moves to Europe.
Undeterred by those series of disappointments, Chukwueze eventually packed his bags and journeyed to Spain, first joining Villarreal’s U-18 team, before being promoted to the B team.
Chukwueze’s emergence came as positive news to Nigerian fans, with the national side lacking a naturally left-footed winger since the untimely retirement of Emmanuel Amuneke, who coached the wonderkid in the Eagles’ U-17 and U-20 teams.
Despite his relative inexperience, former Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, identified the starlet’s raw talent and handed him an audition in a team which, for all its outstanding attacking players, lacks a natural left winger to create panic and havoc on opposition defences with direct running, effective crossing and superb technique.
Chukwueze would certainly be a statement signing by Lampard’s team if they can get a deal over the line.
One thing that is however certain is that Chukwueze is not coming to England to improve on his medals haul but to try and rescue his team from sinking like his compatriots in the Premier League.
The duo of Nottingham Forest of Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis are placed 15th on the Premier League log after amassing just four points from five matches, Alex Iwobi’s Everton with three points from five matches are occupying the 17th position, while Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho’s Leicester City with one point from five matches are rock bottom.
Anglo-Nigerian duo of Ebere Eze and Michael Olise’s Crystal Palace are placed 13th on the log.
