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Super Eagles legend Ogenyi Onazi has opened up on coming close to joining Chelsea.
Ogenyi Onazi, the dynamic midfielder who played a pivotal role in Nigeria's 2013 Africa Cup of Nations triumph, has opened up about the missed opportunity of joining Premier League giants Chelsea earlier in his career.
The 31-year-old, who now plies his trade at Italian Serie C club Avezzano Calcio, reflected on a pivotal moment that could have reshaped his football career.
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Chelsea dream deferred: Onazi's youthful crossroads
After lighting up the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup with Nigeria's Golden Eaglets, Onazi caught the eye of several top clubs, including Chelsea. However, a combination of age restrictions and strategic career planning led him down a different path.
“I was going to sign for Chelsea, but my manager decided that we should go to Italy. When I was young, I almost signed for Chelsea, but we were underage and couldn’t play. We had to wait until we were 18,” Onazi detailed, highlighting the complexities young talents face in their transition to Europe's elite clubs, per Ajansspor.
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Lazio over London: A calculated move
The allure of immediate playing opportunities and accelerated development at Lazio proved decisive in Onazi's early career choices. The switch to Italy, where he began with Lazio's second team, offered a more straightforward path to first-team football—a critical consideration for any young player.
“There was a lot of process. That’s why my manager decided that we would go to Italy at that time, so we could start in Lazio’s second team and then, when we developed, we could get promoted to the team,” Onazi explained.
Despite the setback of not joining Chelsea, Onazi's career has been marked by significant achievements, including over fifty caps for the Super Eagles and a key role in their 2013 AFCON victory. However, his journey hasn't been without challenges, as evidenced by his exclusion from the 2019 AFCON squad due to a prolonged injury while playing in Turkey.
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