Popular football agent, John Shittu, who represents former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, has come out to claim that there is no exceptional football talent in Nigeria. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, Nigeria has had several players who were actually good enough at a young age, but their character and attitude did not make them develop into the player they were meant to be.
John added that there is clearly a trajectory problem in Nigerian football, and current players in the country mostly lack the right level of discipline to be the next best thing.
His words, “You know the thing about discovering talents, and which sometimes I always go back to John Mikel Obi,”
“Ordinarily, when people see players on the street at that age, they always say he’s good at this position. But out there, there are so many professionals in the scouting industry, and you see the player you see today at the age of 13 or 14 that you think that this is going to be the next [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi of this world.”
“As he grows, anything can happen. It could even be the character of that person. We have had so many like that in Nigeria that were so good, but their attitude and character did not get them anywhere and likewise all over the world.”
“For me, it’s the trajectory problem, and I have not yet seen that player [in Nigeria] with the right attitude and the level of discipline that could be the next big thing.”
“I just mentioned about the Nigerian players. Yes, they have some decent players. Nothing for me at the moment is so excellent.”
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