The Most Guaranteed Road Map to a Successful football Career (Designed for Nigerian Players)

Sometimes, it’s better to look at complicated things in black and white; I mean why many Nigerian footballers fail to reach the height of their potential.

Take Wowo for example, that guy was a very talented player… I knew him right when he was about 13years old, he was already attracting crowd, and people came from afar off to watch him play at Maracana field, Tolu schools complex in Ajegunle.

Ndubusi Chukwunyere was so skillful and had a lot of potentials. In the right situation, he could have gone on to become a world class star. And may have played for some of the big teams such as  Real Madrid, Manchester United or Bayern Munchen… But perhaps, out of desperation he had to travel abroad to continue his career in Malta – that was a wrong move!

At the very end, several years after, when Ndubusi was invited to the national team of Nigeria, he was no longer the same Wowo we used to know. His case was a complicated turn around, a good talent turned bad.

I can mention many more Nigerian players that showed so much promise, but ended up just like Wowo. We used to think that once you find your way abroad, you automatically become a superstar and quickly called up to the national team. But things are changing fast and today, it matters which country you go to and which team you play with abroad.

There are still hundreds of players traveling to China, Qatar, Bangladesh, Vietnam… to ply their football trade, that’s the easiest way to kill your football career! Except off course, you are an older player, in the decline stage of your career, and then you can quickly get to China or the Middle East to earn some retirement money.

Like every product, every footballer has a career life cycle. It is called Product Life Cycle (PLC). It’s very complicated; it doesn’t always come with age. It takes a very experienced player’s manager to identify the stage of his player’s career life cycle. Of course, young players between 16 – 23years old are likely to be in their growth stage and it’s better to find a way to transfer them into Youth teams or academies in Europe, where they can mature in techniques and  improve their skills for the future.

Now, let us explore the road map of some of the most successful footballers from Nigeria: how they started and ended their career.

1.     Nwankwo Kanu, perhaps the most successful player that came out of Nigeria, started from Iwuanyawu Nationale – Ajax (Youth team) – Inter Milan – Arsenal and Portsmouth.

2.     Obafemi Martins, is another successful player that came out from Nigeria. He started from Abiede FC – Inter Milan (Youth team) – Newcastle – Seattle Sounders

3.     John Mikel Obi is yet another successful player from Nigeria: started with Pepsi Academy – Manchester United (Youth team) – Lyn Oslo – Chelsea.

4.     Ahmed Musa is also glearing example of a successful player. He first moved from Kano Pillars – VVV.Venlo (Youth team) – CSKA Moscow.

One common factor about all these successful players mentioned here is they where all transferred into the youth teams of clubs in Europe. I can well tell you that players like Kelechi Iheanacho, Isaac Success, Alex Iwobi, Taiwo Awoniyi are likely to turn out very successful players in the near future.

GreenHunters Sports International doesn’t just provide you opportunities to go for trials abroad, we manage your career and make sure you follow the right path that will eventually lead you to success. If you are interested letting us manage your football career, contact us: +234 809 877 2556 or email: gh.sports1@gmail.com  or better still use the contact form below.