During the last World Cup in Brazil, Wilfred Ndidi was still plying his trade within the Nigerian league. Four years down the line, as the Super Eagles prepare to file out against Croatia in their first game of the 2018 World Cup, he is one of the names that is almost certain to be in the starting line-up. In this time, he has made about 61 appearances for Genk of Belgium, 50 for Leicester City in England, while also featuring for Nigeria’s Under-17 and Under-20 teams to emerge probably the country’s best defensive midfield player at the moment.
Despite his slender build, Ndidi is a tough-tackling and workaholic midfield player whose preoccupation in breaking down the opponents’ attacking forays has earned him rave reviews as well as accolades at club and international levels. Though he was signed and played as a centre back and full-back by Genk, he was tested in the defensive midfielder role by Peter Maes, Genk’s manager at the time, who found that he can control the game just in front of the back line. The rest is now history as he received the award as the third-best young player in the Belgian league for the 2015–16 season.
Despite managing to keep hold of other crucial players like Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez after winning the Premier League, the Leicester City midfield showed signs of weakness following the departure of French Midfielder Ngolo Kante. Wilfred Ndidi was brought in during the January transfer window of 2017 from Belgian side Genk for £17m to help steady the Leicester midfield ship. A season and half later, Ndidi’s influence has grown into an important part of how the Foxes line-up.
Ndidi topped both his club’s and the Premier League’s overall tackling charts to emerge the winner of the Leicester City Young Player Award for the 2017-18 season just past and was the only Nigerian named amongst the ‘100 Most Valuable Player’ list compiled by research group, International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory, coming up in the 79th position.
Ndidi stands at 6’2” tall, and has an exceptional work rate. He is a battler who can intercept or win a tackle at ease. He also possesses aerial threat from set pieces. He lacks a bit of creativity when going forward as he is not much of a ball carrier, but while the accuracy of his long passes is a still requires some work (since he is a focal point for possible counter-attacks), he has the ability to switch play.
In the Super Eagles, he has been a regular feature since making his debut on 8 October 2015 in the friendly game against DR Congo with 17 caps under his belt so far. His impact has been so immense that there was a lot of apprehension in the Nigerian camp in recent weeks when he picked an injury. The 21-year-old however recovered and returned to action in Nigeria’s final pre-World Cup game against Czech Republic and is one of the 18 Nigerian players set to make their World Cup debut.
Still only 21 and a long way to go in his career, Wilfred Ndidi has been of considerable importance to both his club and country. With his peak years still ahead of him, he can potentially be amongst the great players in his position – starting at the World Cup in Russia this weekend.