Nigerian (as well as African in gen.) youth internationals: Stay away from the Premier League

Discussion in 'Africa' started by Unak78, Dec 30, 2017.

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Which is the best destination in Europe for non-European players?

  1. Bundesliga

    2 vote(s)
    100.0%
  2. Ligue 1

    1 vote(s)
    50.0%
  3. Serie A

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. BPL

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Eredivisie

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  6. Primeira Liga

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Süper Lig

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. Belgian First Div. A

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  9. Russian Premeir League

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. La Liga (forgot to add this one)

    1 vote(s)
    50.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Unak78

    Unak78 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 17, 2007
    PSG & Enyimba FC
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    #1 Unak78, Dec 30, 2017
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2017
    I am tired of seeing young Nigerian players waste their formulative years trying to launch themselves in the Premier League when time and again in recent decades it's proven to be a poor league for developing non-English talent. The EPL buys large amounts of developed talent and sets a priority, as does any league, for developing domestic players. The difference is that clubs in the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and even La Liga have a much more vested interest in seeing their investments pan out. The EPL is a money-driven league and as such, not only do they have the funds to effectively throw away 20-30 million pounds on players that they are uncertain of any need for, they also tend to fill up more roster spaces with player who developed elsewhere. Outside of a handful of Brazilians or Argentineans, and even there we've seen some spectacular failures like Robinho, one would be hard pressed to find many successfully developed youngsters who started their careers there. The only Africans that I can recall fully developing there have all been either English-born or defensive midfielders. I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head.

    Cultural concerns can be overcome. Look at how many Latin American players have developed in leagues outside of La Liga and have learned to fluently speak even the most non-Romance languages. Africans have done the same in the past; Samuel Eto'o's Spanish is near the level of a natural born native. France, Germany and Belgium also offer an environment similar to England with respect to the racial realities in football. Aside of linguistic concerns, the countries are largely free from racial abuse by crowds that plague Mediterranean and Eastern European leagues.

    And Africans are very familiar with these leagues. More often than not, any African who finds success in the EPL developed elsewhere, especially in recent years and even middle and lower table clubs have more money than they know what to do with and more pressure to win at all costs. Why is it that even Ghanaian players seem wise enough to avoid the lure of Anglophone England while hordes of Nigerians still throw themselves at a league that they've seen repeatedly waste the talents of their fellow teammates? Why, when even strong German, Portugues and Italian clubs have repeatedly shown the ability and flexibility to find minutes for developing non-german players from all continents and have recently shown increasing interest in African players do Nigerians stubbornly insist on pushing their way into the EPL where failed talent after failed talent litters their pitches?

    Case in point Kelechi Iheanacho, who recently spurned the interest of not one but two Champions League-bound German clubs in order to vie for a mid-table English club that one of his own Nigerian teammates was already struggling to earn minutes at. After only a half season he's already finding himself as good as transfer-listed again. When will these kids learn? Isaac Success, who made a wise decision in vying for La Liga early in his career switched up for the EPL and has stagnated since. Nigerian players need to make smarter decisions or the federation needs to find these kids managers and agents who have the player's future development in mind given that such interests stands them to earn more in the long run. Too many agents are so low on these kids that they'll ship them off to the highest bidder assuming that they'd never amount to much more so it doesn't matter if they don't develop so long as that first or second contract is large enough. It's time for a change because the definition of insanity... yada yada yada...
     
  2. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Do the English agree with you about that? http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/30122051 is titled "State of the Game finds Premier League 'a third English'." It's from November 20, 2014.
     
  3. Unak78

    Unak78 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 17, 2007
    PSG & Enyimba FC
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Nigeria
    I'm not saying that they necessarily actually do a good job of developing English players anyway. What I am saying is that what should be it's emphasis, and to some extent is with respect to foreign youth, is the English player. The EPL has few enough roles for young players vs other big leagues with already puts young players of any nationality at a disadvantage there. Add to that that the public and ,to some extent, internal interests in the league want as many English player developed as possible bc that's how you market the league and it's clubs to it's fanbase, then why would it benefit Nigerians to compete in an already diminished environment in a league that already has few enough spots for it's own domestic youth? Even with what few spots they have for young players you are essentially fighting an up-hill battle to slide into a spot that a long list of English-born players are already fighting an up-hill battle to climb into. You're just asking for trouble and a lot of bench time. Most of what fills that other two-thirds of the EPL composition are previously developed players from other countries. The point is that the EPL is not a league that fosters developing players, yet promising young Nigerian footballers seem convinced that it is.

    I added an addendum to include all African youth internationals in this warning considering Islam Slimani's similar struggles, but the emphasis is placed on Nigerians because Nigerians seem the most likely to double-down on their stubborn reluctance to even test the waters elsewhere. In all likelihood, if Slimani moves he's probably far more likely than a Nigerian player to try to go abroad. This is a problem that seems to specifically plague the tendancies of Nigerian players.
     
  4. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    FA Cup Fourth Round: Peterborough United 1-5 Leicester City

    Leicester City's goals were 2 by Fousseni Diabate (age 22 from Mali), 2 by Kelechi Iheanacho (age 21 from Nigeria), and 1 by Wilfred Ndidi (age 21 from Nigeria). I wonder what the record is for most goals in a game by a non-African club that were all by Africans.
     

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