Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze ( bear 22 May 1999 ) is a nigerian professional football player who plays for spanish club Villarreal and the Nigeria national team as a winger .
early life sentence and education [edit ]
Chukwueze was born in Umuahia Abia country. He is of Igbo descent and was brought up in a christian family with a younger brother and a younger baby. He attended Government College Umuahia and Evangel Secondary School. He started playing football at the age of 8 and he admired Jay-Jay Okocha as his football idol growing up. He has been mentored by Hon. Victor Apugo whom he saw as a forefather, as stated in his earlier interview. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Reading: Samuel Chukwueze – Wikipedia
Samuel Chukwueze with Nwakali U17 World Cup MVP prize with Hon. Victor Apugo and Kelechi Nwakali with Samuel ‘s U17 World 2015 Chile Most Valuable Player Award
Club career [edit ]
Born in Amaokwe Ugba Ibeku, Umuahia, Abia State, [ 3 ] Chukwueze joined Villarreal CF ‘s fecund youth setup in 2017, from local slope Diamond Football Academy. [ 4 ] After being initially assigned to the club ‘s Juvenil A team, he made his senior introduction with the reserves on 15 April 2018, coming on as a second-half stand-in for Sergio Lozano in a 1–1 Segunda División B away draw against CE Sabadell FC. Chukwueze scored his first elder goal on 20 May 2018, netting his team ‘s second in a 3–1 aside kill of Bilbao Athletic. He contributed with two goals in 11 appearances during his first base season, as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs. Chukwueze made his first-team debut on 20 September 2018, replacing Nicola Sansone in a 2–2 home draw against Rangers, for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. [ 5 ] He besides made his league debut on 5 November 2018, playing a 90-minute full play in a 1–1 family withdraw against Levante, for the 2018–19 La Liga. In April 2019, he won the Nigeria Football Federation ‘s 2018 Young Player of the Year award. [ 6 ]
International career [edit ]
After playing for Nigeria at under-17 level, he received his first call-up to the aged team in October 2018. [ 7 ] He made his debut for the nigerian elder team on 20 November 2018 as a newcomer in a 0–0 friendly draw against Uganda. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]
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In May 2019, Chukwueze was invited to represent Nigeria ‘s senior team at the Africa Cup of Nations and the Under-20 team at the Under-20 World Cup. however, Villarreal said he could only play in one of the tournaments. [ 10 ] He ultimately decided to take part with Nigerian ‘s aged squad for Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Egypt [ 11 ] and scored his first senior goal in Nigeria ‘s 2–1 winnings over South Africa in the quarter finals. [ 12 ]
Playing style [edit ]
He has been compared to Arjen Robben because of his skillset. [ 13 ]
career statistics [edit ]
club [edit ]
- As of match played 2 November 2021[14]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Villarreal B | 2017–18 | Segunda División B | 11 | 2 | — | — | 11 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | 9 | 2 | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 4 | — | — | 20 | 4 | ||||
| Villarreal | 2018–19 | La Liga | 26 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9[a] | 1 | 38 | 8 |
| 2019–20 | 37 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 41 | 4 | |||
| 2020–21 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11[a] | 1 | 40 | 5 | ||
| 2021–22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 1 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Total | 95 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 22 | 3 | 125 | 18 | ||
| Career total | 115 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 22 | 3 | 145 | 22 | ||
International [edit ]
- As of match played 30 March 2021[15]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 3 | |
- Scores and results list Nigeria’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chukwueze goal.[15]
Honours [edit ]
Villarreal
International [edit ]
Nigeria U17