The Inside Story of Wilfred Ndidi’s Rise
The Nigerian has gone from cleaning cars and hawking water sachets in Lagos traffic to flying high in the Premier League.
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers’ announcement in September that midfielder Wilfred Ndidi would miss about 12 weeks of football action because of a groin injury was received with a collective gasp in the East Midlands.
Since joining the Foxes in 2017, Ndidi has been highly influential, both in terms of involvement and impact. So important is his function within the side that when he was forced to miss five Premier League matches in January, the club’s title bid was derailed. He was duly rushed back ahead of his scheduled recuperation, with Rodgers at the time describing him as “genetically blessed”.
This is a theme that has persisted through the course of his time in England, and which made his last injury almost inevitable. The Nigerian has played over 12 000 minutes for Leicester since his arrival from Belgian side Genk, making him one of the ever-presents in the squad.
Following a gruelling 2018-19 season, during which he played all 38 league matches, he played close to 600 minutes at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria, before remarkably returning to start the very first match of the 2019-20 league season.
Within this context, it was easy to pick the silver lining in his enforced lengthy lay-off: aside from handing an important lesson in asset management to Leicester and Rodgers, it gave the player a chance at proper recovery and rehabilitation. Pushing himself to the limit physically is something Ndidi has become accustomed to in his life.