Wilfred Ndidi

Wilfred Ndidi

Ndidi lining up with Nigeria in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi [1]
Date of birth	(1996-12-16) 16 December 1996 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [3]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Leicester City
Number	25
Youth career
2002–2012	Ekosodin Stars FC
2012–2015	Nath Boys Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2017	Genk	61	(4)
2017–	Leicester City	222	(11)
International career‡
2013–2015	Nigeria U20	7	(0)
2015–	Nigeria	56	(0)
Medal record Africa Cup of Nations 2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:55, 23 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:54, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. Ndidi is known for his defensive prowess. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Club career

Genk

On 14 January 2015 Nath Boys Academy agreed a €180,000 transfer deal with Genk. The deal was completed on 15 January 2015. Ndidi made his Belgian Pro League debut with Genk on 31 January 2015 against Charleroi in a 1–0 away defeat. He played the first 74 minutes of the game, before being substituted for Jarne Vrijsen. ^[10]

During the Belgian League play-off game against Club Brugge, Ndidi scored a long-range goal, which was named the goal of the season in the Belgian league. After receiving an attempted-clearance outside the penalty box, he lofted the ball smoothly over an opposing player before unleashing a ferocious volley into the top right corner. ^{[11] [12]} The ball was adjudged to be travelling at over 111 km/h. ^[13]

Leicester City

On 3 December 2016, Genk agreed a £17 million transfer deal with Leicester City. ^{[14] [15]} The deal was confirmed on 5 January 2017. ^[16]

Ndidi made his debut for the club on 7 January 2017, in a 2–1 win against Everton in the third round of the FA Cup. ^[17] He made his first Premier League start on 14 January 2017 against Chelsea at home in a 3–0 defeat. ^[18] In the English FA Cup game against Derby County on 8 February 2017, Ndidi came on in the first half of extra time and scored his first goal for Leicester through a long-range shot. ^[19] In a 3–1 win over Liverpool on 27 February 2017, Ndidi won 11 of his 14 tackles, ^[20] a feat bettered only by Chelsea's N'Golo Kanté who made 14 tackles against the same club in January. ^[21]

Ndidi was sent off for the first time in his career during Leicester's 3–0 home defeat to Crystal Palace on 16 December 2017. ^[22]

He scored the opener of the 2019–20 season for Leicester in a draw against Chelsea on 18 August 2019. ^[23]

2020–21 season

On 13 September 2020, Ndidi started at centre-back in Leicester City's opening game of the 2020–21 Premier League campaign and kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 win away to West Bromwich Albion. Ndidi suffered an adductor injury on 20 September 2020 and was ruled out for 6–12 weeks. ^[24] He returned to action on 3 December in Leicester's Europa League loss to Zorya Luhansk.

On 19 January 2021, Ndidi scored his first goal of the season in Leicester City's league fixture against Chelsea. The match eventually ended with Leicester beating their opponents 2–0 and the club went top of the league table. ^[25]

International career

Ndidi was part of the Nigerian youth setup during his time at Nathaniel Boys of Lagos. While playing the African U-17 Championship with Nigeria, he was excluded along with two other players from the competition as a precaution, following an MRI age test that suggested he was just slightly above the threshold. ^[26] Notwithstanding, he joined up with his teammates in the U-20 team the following year, forming the bedrock of the midfield. He was called up to the senior Nigeria national football team on 8 October 2015, making his debut in the friendly game against DR Congo, and playing again a few days later in the 3–0 win against Cameroon, when he replaced John Obi Mikel in the 63rd minute. ^[27] He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics. ^[28]

In May 2018, he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. ^[29] He was included in the African Cup of Nations 2019 squad ^[30] and played in Nigeria's first match against Burundi. ^[31] On 25 December 2021, Ndidi was selected in Nigeria's 2021 Africa Cup of Nations 28-man squad by Nigeria's caretaker coach Austin Eguavoen. ^[32] On 22 January 2022, after the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 Group Stage, Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) shortlisted Ndidi in the group stage's best team as a substitute alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané. ^[33]

On 29 December 2023, Ndidi was named in the Nigerian squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. ^[34] However, he sustained an injury in early January 2024 and was replaced by Alhassan Yusuf. ^[35]

Personal life

Ndidi grew up in the barracks as his father was a serving Army officer before his retirement. Discipline and education were the priority there, while football was a passion his father frowned upon. “Any time my dad went to work I would go and play,” Ndidi said in an interview with BBC World Service.

In May 2019, Ndidi married his longtime girlfriend Dinma Fortune in Abuja. ^[36]

In 2019, Ndidi started studying for a degree in Business and Management at De Montfort University. ^[37]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 April 2024 ^[38]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Genk	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	6	0	0	0	—		—		—		6	0
	2015–16		36	4	5	0	—		—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	43	4
	2016–17		19	0	3	1	—		12 [lower-alpha 4]	2	—		34	3
	Total		61	4	8	1	—		12	2	2	0	83	7
Leicester City	2016–17	Premier League	17	2	2	1	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 5]	0	—		23	3
	2017–18		33	0	3	1	2	0	—		—		38	1
	2018–19		38	2	0	0	2	0	—		—		40	2
	2019–20		32	2	3	0	4	0	—		—		39	2
	2020–21		26	1	6	0	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 4]	0	—		36	1
	2021–22		19	0	1	0	2	0	8 [lower-alpha 6]	2	1 [lower-alpha 7]	0	31	2
	2022–23		27	0	1	0	2	0	—		—		30	0
	2023–24	Championship	30	4	1	0	3	2	—		—		34	6
	Total		222	11	17	2	15	2	16	2	1	0	271	17
Career total			277	14	25	3	15	2	28	4	3	0	347	24

1. Includes Belgian Cup, FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in Belgian Pro League Europa League play-offs
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
6. Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Appearance in FA Community Shield

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 ^[39]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2015	2	0
	2016	4	0
	2017	8	0
	2018	10	0
	2019	13	0
	2021	7	0
	2022	5	0
	2023	5	0
	2024	2	0
Total		56	0

Honours

Leicester City

• FA Cup: 2020–21 ^[40]
• FA Community Shield: 2021 ^[41]

References

1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
2. "Wilfred Ndidi: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
3. "Wilfred Ndidi". Leicester City F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
4. "Leicester City's Ndidi shares top tackler accolade with Manchester United's Wan-Bissaka". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
5. "Watch Leicester's Ndidi score long-range screamer". UEFA.com. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
6. "The 25 Best Defensive Midfielders in World Football - Ranked". 90Min. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
7. "The 10 Best Defensive Midfielders In The World Right Now, Named And Ranked". SportBible. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
8. "TOP 10 DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW". Sports Khabri. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
9. "Top 10 Defensive Midfielders in the World Right Now". Pundit Feed. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
10. "Charleri vs. Genk – 31 January 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
11. Football Score (20 April 2016). "Wilfred Ndidi Amazing Goal ● KRC Genk vs Club Brugge KV ● Belgium Jupiler League 20/04/2016" – via YouTube.
12. "Hanni is Profvoetballer van het Jaar, ook Preud'homme, Bailey, Sels, Ndidi en Simons bekroond". De Standaard. 23 May 2016.
13. "Footballeur Pro de l'année: Wilfred Ndidi, auteur du plus beau but". lavenir.net.
14. Seyi Daniels (23 December 2016). "7 FACTS you didn't know about Leicester City new signing Wilfred Ndidi". soccerblitz.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
15. "Leicester agree deal to sign Nigeria international Wilfred Ndidi from Genk". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
16. "Wilfred Ndidi: New Signing Trains After Finalising Leicester City Transfer". lcfc.com. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
17. McNulty, Phil (7 January 2017). "Everton 1–2 Leicester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
18. "Match Report – Leicester 0–3 Chelsea". www.lcfc.com. Leicester City F.C. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
19. "Ndidi first Leicester goal", espnfc.com, retrieved 8 February 2017
20. Phil Dawkes (27 February 2017), "Leicester City 3–1 Liverpool", BBC Sport, retrieved 3 June 2017
21. Colin Udoh (28 February 2017), Leicester dynamo Wilfred Ndidi has potential to surpass N'Golo Kante, ESPN FC, retrieved 3 June 2017
22. Shina Oludare (16 December 2017), Birthday boy Ndidi gets first career red against Crystal Palace, GOAL.COM, retrieved 17 December 2017
23. "Chelsea Vs Leicester". Premier League.
24. "Rodgers Confirms Wilfred Ndidi Injury". www.lcfc.com. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
25. "Leicester City 2–0 Chelsea". BBC Sport. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
26. Baffour, Katherine (15 April 2013). "Three Nigerian Footballers Caught Age Cheating".
27. "Nigeria v Cameroon | 11 October 2015 | Goal.com Nigeria". www.goal.com. 11 October 2015.
28. Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
29. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
30. Shittu, Ibitoye (11 June 2019). "AFCON 2019: Iwobi, Ndidi, 18 other Nigerian stars who will be making debut". Legit.ng. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
31. Okogba, Emmanuel (24 June 2018). "Nigeria v Burundi player ratings: Aina shines, Mikel, Akpeyi underwhelm". Vanguard. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
32. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Eguavoen announces Nigeria final TotalEnergies AFCON squad". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
33. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 – Best of the group stage". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
34. Olu Ibidapo, Ayodele (29 December 2023). "Peseiro names 25 players as Super Eagles seek fourth AFCON title in Cote d'Ivoire". Nigeria Football Federation . Retrieved 30 December 2023.
35. "Nigeria replace Leicester's Ndidi in Afcon squad". BBC Sport. 3 January 2024.
36. Okoroji, Chidozie (23 May 2019). "Wilfred Ndidi weds longtime girlfriend, Dinma in Abuja". Brila. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
37. Taiwo, Taiye (23 August 2019). "Ndidi: Leicester City midfielder studying business and management". Goal. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
38. "W. Ndidi". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
39. "Wilfred Ndidi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
40. McNulty, Phil (15 May 2021). "Chelsea 0–1 Leicester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
41. Hafez, Shamoon (7 August 2021). "Leicester City 1–0 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

External links

• Profile at the Leicester City F.C. website
• Wilfred Ndidi – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Wilfred Ndidi at Soccerway
• Wilfred Ndidi at Soccerbase
• Wilfred Ndidi at National-Football-Teams.com