‘I could see myself playing in first team’ – Super Eagles forgotten man opens up on failed Liverpool move

Forgoten Super Eagles winger Chidera Ejuke has given a detailed interview to Het Belang van Limburg reporter David Van den Broeck and as expected, one of the topics he touched on was his failed transfer to Premier League giants Liverpool seven years ago.

Ejuke along with Jacob Njoku, Charles Ezeh and Suleiman Muhammad trained with Liverpool with a view to signing professional contracts, only for the Reds to pass up the opportunity to sign the quartet.

The Gee Lec Football Academy product also attracted concrete interest from Manchester City before heading to Liverpool for an unsuccessful trial. 

Ejuke was invited to attend trials at Liverpool after he was scouted in Abia State by a Nigerian agent with close links to the Anfield club.

A year or so after seeing a dream move to Liverpool go up in smoke, Ejuke was offered a contract by Norwegian club 

Vålerenga, where he blossomed into one of the best wingers in Scandinavia. 

Ejuke told HBVL (subscription required) : “I was allowed to train with the youth for a week. I started dreaming, I could see myself playing in the first team, but things didn’t go as expected. 

“I wasn’t good enough, it turned out, and I had to start all over again. That was quite difficult, because you realize that you don’t get opportunities like that often. 

“I felt like I had disappointed my family. But okay, that’s life. Get up and get going, for the love of the game. And that experience came in handy when I was able to return to Europe two years later.”

A member of the Super Eagles squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Ejuke has been in the international wilderness since the conclusion of the tournament in Cameroon, where he played in two group matches.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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