Nigeria’s Chukwueze is Africa’s most valuable U20 player

Nigerian youngster Samuel Chukwueze is making the headlines again as his sizzling performances for La Liga side, Villarreal, has earned him the number one position among African U-20 players in Europe’s top five leagues.

Chukwueze who is said to worth as much as N14.1bn (35 million euros) is ranked just outside the top 10 U20s in the world by Swiss-based organisation, CIES Football Observatory.

The Nigerian forward is ranked 12th in the world ahead of the likes of Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi among others.

At 19 years, Chukwueze has taken the LaLiga by storm; playing a key role for Villarreal as they try to stay afloat in the top division.

Chukwueze already has 37 appearances under his belt in all competitions for the first team of Villarreal, scoring eight goals and providing three assists.

He has scored in La Liga, Europa League and Spanish Cup this season despite only just earning promotion to the first team from the reserves.

Expectedly also, the Diamond Academy product is already commanding interests across the world with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City reported to be planning a summer swoop on the fleet-footed Nigerian.

A couple of LaLiga teams are also said to be weighing a move for the young striker who already has one cap for the Nigeria national team, the Super Eagles.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Chukwueze is facing a dilemma after being offered the chance to play for Nigeria at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and Under-20 World Cup.

However, his Spanish La Liga side Villarreal have told the 19-year-old that he cannot play in both.

The Under-20 World Cup ends in Poland on 15 June with the Nations Cup in Egypt starting six days later.

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