Dreaming of Chelsea and Manchester United – VG

Editorial collaboration–

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– Leaving my parents was a very difficult choice, but we all do it for a reason. We have dreams and ambitions. I know why I came here, and so do my parents and siblings. They support me, and I am happy to have taken the step, says Igoh Ogbu, who is the highest ranked defender on the VG exchange so far in 2022.

Not far away in the stands, Pål André Helland (32) has sat down. Trønderen says he is deeply impressed with the stopper and the two other Nigerian teammates.

– Akor (Adams) and Igoh (Ogbu) are physically unique. Matthew is more trailing, a watchdog in the middle who is extremely good at winning balls. Akor is over 190 centimeters, 95 kilos – and lightning fast. It’s tough to defend against, says Helland and smiles.

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Lillestrøm started what is mentioned for the “Nigeria project” 13 years ago, when former Lyn manager Torgeir Bjarmann (53) took over the job as sports coordinator at the club. He already had good contact with agent Atta Aneke, who, among other things, had secured Lyn’s super talent Odion Ighalo. The striker has later had a great career in clubs such as Watford and Manchester United, and is just one of many players who have started their professional careers in Norway.

Simon Mesfin (42) was then employed as integration manager in LSK. The Roman kings recognized that the young Africans needed extra follow-up, and the move was successful. Mesfin is now sports manager and has continued the collaboration with Aneke.

12 of 15 players have been brought directly from Nigeria to LSK, while Ogbu and Adams were signed after stays in Sogndal, among others. The latter tells of a horror-mixed joy when he came to Norway for the first time in 2018.

– I was a young boy. There were many shocks. This is how I think it was for all of us. It was the icy weather, new people and a new environment. Football was the thing that was still the same. That we are very engrossed in football, probably meant that we did not think so much about the differences to begin with, and over the years here I have become accustomed to the surroundings, says Adams and laughs at thinking back on the first meeting with it Norwegian climate.

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The 22-year-old has scored four goals in 10 games this season, and a great future is predicted. It has been four years since he moved from the agricultural area of ​​Benue.

– I come from a very humble background. Benue is a very, very quiet place compared to Oslo. In a way, Sogndal is more like the way I was growing up, says Adams.

He has seven siblings back home in Nigeria. His friend Ogbu has nine brothers and sisters that he thinks about a lot. They were not really that many, but after the uncle died early, Ogbus’ mother and father took the cousins.

– We are all siblings now. I have wonderful parents. Many children in Nigeria have a tough upbringing and background, but the love and support my parents have given me has been wonderful. They tried to support me as best they could, but you can not get everything. Sometimes you have to go out and fight for what you want, says LSK’s stopper jewel.

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Ogbu was signed by Rosenborg in 2018, but was never properly invested in by the people of Trøndelag. This led to stays in small clubs such as Levanger and Sogndal, before LSK brought him to the club last year.

You know, when you are developing, you have the opportunity to take steps every day. So I think the journey has been great. In all the places I have been, I have learned a lot. I have worked very hard in my career, says Ogbu.

– Football has been my life and what has given me the greatest reason to smile. It is easier for us to cope with leaving home since this is what we have chosen to do with our lives. We give everything for this.

– What is the main motivation for success in your football career?

– My family.

– To support them?

– To make a difference in the world. I want to enjoy football and help those who have not been given the same opportunity. The better we do it here, the more we want to take it home and help our local communities. We send clothes and football shoes – and then we buy new equipment for them. So that they can stay motivated, says Lillestrøm’s 22-year-old defender, while his friends sit next to him and listen.

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Adams says he dreams of playing at the top level.

– Manchester United is the goal. It’s a childhood dream for me. Because we have to try to make a difference in the world – not be happy with being one in the crowd of players. Apart from the things we give people at home, I think the most important thing is to be a role model. Because if we can do it, others think they can do it too. Money can not buy hope, says LSK’s talented striker.

– Where we come from, two out of 1000 succeed in becoming football players. That others in Nigeria can wake up and have a hope of success because of us is the most important thing to me.

– How is the feeling when you come home and see that children smile when they see you because of what you have achieved?

– I’m just grateful to God. It’s a privilege. It could have been anyone, but it’s me, says Adams, before Matthew takes the floor.

– It’s a very nice thing. It’s not about money, but about motivation. We encourage young players who want to play football, says the midfielder, who himself has six siblings and helps them as best he can.

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While 25-year-old Matthew is in the middle of his career and on a contract that lasts the rest of the year with LSK, the club has long-term contracts until 2025 and 2024 with Ogbu and Adams, respectively. This contributes to the fact that the sports manager of the club believes that the super talents will set a transition record for the “Nigeria project”. The top sum is currently NOK 23 million, which German Mainz paid for Anthony Ujah in 2011.

– The Nigeria project has been very fruitful for us – both financially and in terms of the development of the club. These are three lovely boys. They see life in a different way than us Norwegians. They come from the other side of the globe and give us a good mood, quality and an enormous “drive”, Mesfin tells VG and tells about how the LSK model involves a combined investment in established players such as Pål André Helland and Gjermund Åsen, local young boys and Africans.

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The Nigeria project has resulted in net revenues of up to 50 million, according to Mesfin. Now the number is set to be raised considerably with the expected sales of Ogbu and Adams. This is also the opinion of football expert and former sports director Tor-Kristian Karlsen.

– I would say that it is Ogbu who can really break records. The X-factor is that if he is taken out in the national team squad for Nigeria, then the price gets even faster legs to walk on. I think somewhere between 25 and 30 million kroner as a starting point for him now, says Karlsen to VG.

– It is connected with the fact that he has had a very good development in the last three years. He has some unique qualities, especially one on one. Nigerians and Africans are also generally higher priced than Norwegians, Karlsen follows up.

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Mesfin, for its part, envisages collecting solid sums in the time to come.

– It is the market that ultimately decides the prices, but we have longer contracts for them and expect big sales at some point. The record for Ujah can quickly be broken, says the LSK manager and emphasizes that the club basically does not want to sell any of the players immediately.

Nor does the Nigerian trio seem to be in a hurry to leave LSK. Their focus is on winning the Elite Series with “The Bird”, while the dreams are even bigger.

– My dream is to play for one of the world’s biggest clubs. When I was little, I often watched Chelsea. It’s my dream club. They have motivated me in many different ways. John Terry was my favorite player. When I was young, I wanted to play like him, says Ogbu and explains how he learned a lot from studying video clips of England’s former national team captain.

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Together, the trio also share a dream of representing Nigeria, the massive nation with over 215 million inhabitants.

You do not have to be born of the same mother to be brothers. The two here are brothers to me. The love we have for each other will always be there, says Ogbu, who during the training VG watched several times gave tough feedback to his friends.

– When we are on the field, we try to “push” each other to the limit, the 22-year-old explains.

– Then it’s business, Adams adds.

– The words I give are not meant as an insult, but it is to push each other. They do the same for me. We want to become Norwegian champions. We want to take this club to the highest level. And we want to show the world something they have never seen before, says Ogbu.

– Nigeria is a big country and we have a lot of players who are in big leagues around the world. So it is not easy to get on the national team, but we will manage it, says Matthew.

“It’s everyone’s dream in Nigeria,” says Adams.

– So we see you in the World Cup in 2026?

– Yes, there we are. We have to be there, says Ogbu.

See more statistics for the Elite Series on VG Live.–

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