“My dad was a military man and didn’t want me to be a footballer, but my mum taught me to strive on. Not that it guaranteed me any success, but the act of striving kept alive my hope to be a footballer and now I will be playing at the World Cup.”
These were the last words of Wilfred Ndidi, sitting on his balcony at the Hilton in London just a few hours before the Super Eagles of Nigeria took on the Three Lions of England as part of their preparations for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.
The Leicester City midfielder had always wanted to make it to the highest level when he used to play amateur football in Festac Town, a small residential estate in Lagos. His dream of playing alongside John Obi Mikel at the World Cup is just a few days away from being a reality, but the journey has not been an easy one.
Ndidi has wasted little time in settling into English football since arriving in the East Midlands from Genk midway through last season and his reputation has risen just as quickly.
At the time of his signing, Leicester were struggling under the weight of being such unlikely Premier League champions. N’Golo Kanté, so integral to that remarkable triumph, was long gone. Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey had both tried to replace him but failed.
Ndidi, though, has not only plugged the Kanté-shaped hole but outperformed his predecessor in some areas. This past Premier League season, Kanté clocked up 130 successful tackles and interceptions combined at Chelsea. Ndidi ended with 153, more than any player in Europe’s top five leagues. Given his tender age, he can only get better.
“When I came a lot of people kept on saying that the position was Kanté’s but I kept on telling myself: ‘Look, you cannot be Kante.’ If I played very well then someday I would also be remembered as a great,” he says.