Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team as a defensive midfielder.
Ndidi as he’s mostly known as has come a long way as a professional footballer and he’s really good at what he does.
1 – He’s the first of three kids, with two sisters, son of a serving military man in the Nigerian Army and a mother who’s a trader.
2 – Ndidi has always made it known that he grew up playing with guys above his age group, owing to his balance and perfect control of the ball to that.
3 – Ndidi grew up at the Military Cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos and started playing football at the Command Children School before proceeding to the Nath Academy where he also played.
4 – He made his debut with RKC Genk in a 1-0 loss with Charleroi on the 31st January 2015.
5 – In his first full season at Belgian side, RKC Genk played 38 games and scored four goals in the league.
6 – On April 20, 2016, he scored a fantastic goal against Club Brugge 30-yards away. That goal is what we believe made everyone on the lookout. The goal was adjudged the best goal of the season.
7 – KRC Genk signed Ndidi for about £78,000 then they sold him on to Leicester City barely two years later for a reported £15m.
8 – Theo and Marleen van Vlierden are Ndidi’s foster parents who took him in when he first arrived at Genk. He stayed with them until his departure for Leicester City 18months later.
9 – Ndidi was named the third-best young player in the Belgian league for 2015/2016, his first full season in football
10 – Ndidi won the Leicester City Young Player of the Year, playing for just five months, the second part of that Season.
11 – Ndidi appeared at two U-20 World Cups for Nigeria. First in 2013 and then in 2015 in New Zealand. On both occasions, the Flying Eagles failed to go beyond the Round of 16 stages.
12 – Ndidi made his competitive debut for the Super Eagles on September 3, 2016 after featuring in his first three friendly games against Congo, Cameroun and Luxembourg. He was also an unused substitute in the World Cup qualifier double-header against Swaziland in November 2015.
