Leicester City midfilelder Wilfred Ndidi finished the 2018/2019 season as the top performing Nigerian player in the English Premier League, according to statistics released on the official website of the EPL, Completesports.com reports.
Ndidi finished the season as the best tackler in the Premier League with 144 tackles.
The former KRC Genk of Belgium midfielder is the first player to top the Premier League tackle charts for two consecutive seasons.
He was also the adjudged the 17th best passer of the ball in the EPL after he made 1,985 passes according to the Premier League official website.
The Nigeria international featured in all the Foxes’ 38 Premier League games in the just concluded season and scored twice.
Ndidi is the third Nigerian to have achieved such feat after the feats of the duo of Victor Moses and Joseph Yobo.
Yobo played in all of Everton’s Premier League games in the 2006/2007 season, while Moses replicated the feat with Wigan Athletic in the 2011/2012 campaign.
Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi came close to Ndidi in the ranking of the Nigerian players in the Premier League in the concluded season season.
Iwobi who made 35 league appearances for the North London club scored three goals and recorded seven assists.
The 23-year-old also featured 10 times for the Gunners in the Europa League where he scored once and provided two assists.
The other Nigerian players in the Premier League; Kelechi Iheanacho, Isaac Success and Leon Balogun struggled for form and regular playing time in their respective clubs.
Iheanacho played 30 league games for Leicester City mostly as a substitute and scored once.
Watford forward, Success, played the same number of games for the Hornets and also hit the back of the net once.
Balogun only made eight appearances for Brighton and Hove Albion with a goal to his name.
By Adeboye Amosu
