Top 5 Nigerian Footballers 2020

Football is the sport of the world, with 191 of 193 UN member states represented by a football team. Football in Africa is huge, with the annual Africa Cup of Nations being the showdown for the continent’s top talent. The 2021 AFCON Cup will take place in Cameroon between the months of January and February, where Nigeria will be able to showcase their best players.

Nigeria is a nation on the rise, with football stars competing in the top European leagues. In fact, Nigeria boasts the most African players in the English Premier League out of all other African countries. Many of those players represent the Nigerian national team and will compete in next years’ AFCON Cup.

We will explore those players careers and highlight the 5 best Nigerian players currently competing in the top-tier of domestic football. Who are the best players and where do they currently play We will reveal all in our list of the Top 5 Nigerian Football stars in 2020.

Alex Iwobi

Iwobi was born in May 1996, in Lagos. Now 24, he’s moved away from Arsenal, the club that nurtured him for the big league, playing for the Merseyside club Everton. Carlo Ancelotti has found space for him in 4 of the 5 Premier League games Everton has played so far in the 2020/21 campaign.

Having spent almost 15 years at Arsenal, he has been well-coached and has excellent link up play. He was spotted as an upcoming Nigerian talent way back in 2015, when he burst onto the scene with the Arsenal first team. Iwobi has lived in England for so long, that he has an English passport and could have played for the Three Lions should he have chosen to. But it was back in 2015, when he decided to make the jump to the Nigerian national side. Since then he’s played 40 games, netting 7 goals and developing a role as a regular in the team.

Kelechi Iheanacho

Another player who has frightening potential. Born in Imo in 1996, Iheanacho is among the top young players coming out of Nigeria. A player who was also brought up in the Premier League, starting his career at Manchester City and working under the legendary leadership of Pep Guardiola between 2014-17.

He made the move to Leicester at the start of the 2018 season and has since played a bit-part role in Brendan Rodgers side. He’s bagged 20 goals in 84 appearances for the Foxes. His numbers could be a lot better, but at 23 he’s still got a long way to go. He has played his best football at Manchester City - as one would expect playing a squad with that much talent. Interestingly, he’s now on the list of Premier League scorers who have scored 10 goals before the age of 20, alongside the likes of Rooney and Michael Owen. The future is bright for this one.

Victor Osimhen

The next Nigerian player lighting up European football is Victor Osimhen, who was born in 1998 in Lagos, Nigeria. Currently playing as a forward for the Italian giants Napoli. This boy is an instinctive goalscorer and has proven that, picking up 38 goals in 90 appearances in the top-flight of football. He managed to find the net 18 times in 38 games for his last club Lille and scored his first goal for Napoli against Atlanta, after joining for 80 million euros this summer.

With such a big price tag, comes a great deal of pressure. But one would expect him to ignore the pressure, given the talent he has and his aptitude for the goalscoring. For Nigeria, he’s managed to score 4 goals in 9 appearances since first playing for the national side in 2017. If we had to choose the best Nigerian player for 2020, it would be Osimhen. His pace and ability on the ball will ensure he continues to find the net as his career progresses. Watch this space.

Samuel Chukwueze

This time we have a representative of the Spanish top flight, Samuel Chukwueze plays for Villarreal FC as a winger in La Liga. He’s picked up 12 goals in 79 appearances for the first team and 4 goals in 20 appearances for the Villarreal B team. He’s a left-footed player and has been likened to the Dutch legend Arjen Robben, with the ability to cut in and find the net with ferocity from the right side of midfield.

Chukwueze has represented the senior side on a number of occasions, picking up 2 goals since first appearing in 2018. But this players’ future was set in stone from his youth days, named as the young player of the year in the 2017-18 season by the Nigerian Football Federation. It was these kinds of plaudits that resulted in him having a value of $33 million at the ripe age of 21. One would hope that he moves on from Villarreal in the coming years, but for now he’s performing and needs to make sure his goal scoring continues. There are few other players that can cause the kind of damage he can on the wing, so he’ll develop into a first-team player for the national side as the years roll on.

Wilfred Ndidi

Finally we come to Wilfred Ndidi, who was a player that many of the top-tier clubs showed interest in during the summer transfer window. Born in 1996 in Lagos, Ndidi is a powerhouse in midfield. Standing at over 6 foot, the defensive midfielder is the first on the team sheet for Rogers Leicester City. He’s appeared 113 for the Foxes since 2017 and was signed for as little as 19 million euros - a real bargain for the club.
Ndidi has been representing his country on the international stage since 2015. He’s not one to find the net to often, but is an essential cog in the machine for club and country. One great fact about Ndidi is not only is he a world class footballer playing in the most competitive league in the world, he is studying Business and Management at De Montfort University. Players of real quality in Ndidi’s position are few and far between, as we see more attack-minded teams dominate the top-tier of football. Expect to see him make a move to a bigger club in the coming years.