Hours ago, Chelsea confirmed the signing of highly rated midfielder, Carney Chibueze Chukwuemeka for a reported fee of £15m fee plus £5m in add-ons.
Born on the 20th of October 2003 in Eisenstadt, Austria, Chukwuemeka started his football career at the youth team of Aston Villa and walked his way up to the senior team where he managed 15 appearances in all competitions.
Can Chukwuemeka play for Nigeria?
The news of chelsea signing Chukwuemeka was very surprising even for the supporters of the club because many top clubs in Europe were interested in acquiring his services after he turned down Aston Villa’s lucrative proposal that would’ve seen him become one of the top earning teenagers in Europe.
The name, Chukwuemeka is a very popular name amongst the Igbo people of Nigeria and it means “God has done so much.” Both of the player’s parents are Nigerians and that explains everything.
Being born to Nigerian parents in Austria and growing up in England, Chukwuemeka is eligible to represent three national teams: Austria, Nigeria and England.
Right now, Chukwuemeka represents the under 19s of England. Last month, he scored the second goal in England’s 3-1 extra time victory over Israel in the final of the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
As things stand, Nigerians will hope that the youngster will consider switching allegiance to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the future.
If he does so, he’ll be following in the footsteps of players like Victor Moses, Ola Aina, Ademola Lookman etc, who dumped England for Nigeria after playing in the youth team of the European nation.
