In our last piece about Nigerian players that have played for English clubs and those that still play for them, we made mention of Arsenal as the luckiest of English clubs who have had a blissful relationship with Nigerian players.
But looking at Arsenal’s rival, Chelsea, the Blues also can boast of celebrating some players of Nigerian descent at one point or the other. Up to date, The set of Ghanian players that have featured for Chelsea stands at 3. Michael Essien, Baba Rahman and Christian Atsu.
Unlike many other African countries, Nigeria has produced fantastic players that have gone on to represent European clubs brilliantly – truly, Nigeria is a big brother to many African Nations football-wise.
Here are Nigerian Players That Have Played & Still Playing For Chelsea
Ike Dominique Ugbo
Ike Dominique Ugbo is a 22-year-old British-Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Roda JC in the Dutch Eerste Divisie on loan from Chelsea.
He began his career with Chelsea at under-10 level turning professional in 2015. The young attacker has represented England at under-17 and under-20 level.
In June 2017, Ugbo also scored once in three appearances as England’s under-20 side won the Toulon Tournament. He moved to Roda JC in the second tier of Dutch Eredivisie in August 2019.
Celestine Hycieth Babayaro
Babayaro, 41 years old, spent the larger part of his career playing in the Premier League, mainly for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005. He was signed by Chelsea after being spotted by scout Lewis Durkin in April 1997.
He moved for a transfer fee of £2.25 million, a club record paid for a teenager at the time. He made his debut in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup against Slovan Bratislava. During his playing days, Celestine played as a defender and as a midfielder.
Tariq Uwakwe
Tariq is a 21-year-old versatile midfielder that is eligible to represent both England and Nigeria. He received his first England call-up at the Under-18 level in late 2016. He currently plays for Chelsea’s academy
Faustino Adebola Rasheed Anjorin
Tino Anjorin is another young midfielder of Nigerian descent, he was born in Poole, United Kingdom. Having represented England at the U-17, U-18 and U-19 levels, he’s, however, eligible to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Anjorin joined Chelsea ‘s development center program at the under-7 level, officially signing with the club at the under-9 level. On 30 April 2018, Anjorin scored in the second leg of Chelsea’s 2017–18 FA Youth Cup win against Arsenal.
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Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina
Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina, signed for Chelsea as an under-11 and made his youth team debut as a schoolboy in the 2012–13 season. Aina has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and England under-20 levels.
Aina pledged his international future to Nigeria and obtained a Nigerian passport in preparation for making the switch from England to Nigeria in May 2017. In the same month, he was called up to the Super Eagles for the first time to represent Nigeria. He currently plays for the Italian SerieA side, Torino.
Ross Barkley
Here’s another British-Nigerian who’s currently playing for The Blues. Barkley was born in Liverpool on the 5th of December, 1993 in Merseyside. He joined Everton as an 11-year-old and played for the club’s youth teams.
Before making his full international debut for the Three Lions, he had represented England at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20, and under-21. He made his full debut in 2013 for England at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier and was selected in Roy Hodgson’s 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016 but did not appear in any of England’s matches.
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Dominic Ayodele Solanke-Mitchell
Solanke was born on the 14th of September 1997 in Reading, Berkshire to a Nigerian father and an English mother. Solanke started his career with Chelsea, making his first-team debut in October 2014. He signed for Liverpool in July 2017, making 27 appearances before joining AFC Bournemouth in January 2019.
Solanke has represented England at all youth, under-21 and senior levels. He has won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup with his country and received the Golden Ball award for best player in the latter tournament.
Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola Tomori
Fikayo has represented both Canada and England at the youth level. Mainly playing as a center-back, Tomori can also play as a right-back, he currently plays as a defender for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team.
Tomori was eligible to represent Nigeria at the international level through his parents but On 3 October 2019, Tomori received his first call-up to the England senior squad for the much anticipated Euro 2020 qualifying matches. He later said he was committed to playing for England, following interest from Nigeria and Canada.
Kevin Oghenetega Tamaraebi Bakumo-Abraham
If there’s one country with a tremendous number of Nigerian born players, that country will definitely have to be England. Tammy Abraham is another player of Nigerian descent that plies his trade with Chelsea but will never represent the Super Eagles.
Prior to receiving his first competitive cap for the England senior team in October 2019, Abraham was eligible to represent Nigeria through his paternal lineage and was sounded out by the Nigerian Football Association but refused outrightly to represent Nigeria.
Kenneth Josiah Omeruo
Omeruo signed for Chelsea from Standard Liege in January 2012 but never made headway into Chelsea’s senior team as his exploits for The Blues was only for Chelsea’s Academy Youth Team. Right after that period, it’s been one club on loan to another for the Nigeria international.
On 15 August 2018, Omeruo joined CD Leganés on a season-long loan. In October 2018 he stated that he was enjoying playing in Spain, and in March 2019 he said he wanted to sign for Leganés permanently.
On 13 August 2019, Omeruo returned to Leganés, this time on a permanent deal, ending his seven-year spell at Chelsea.
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Victor Moses
The second best Nigerian for Chelsea is Lagos born Player. Although, he spent most of his career as a Chelsea player on loan at clubs like Crystal Palace, Wigan, Liverpool, Fernabahçe, Stoke City and Westham United.
Having endured some loan spells across English clubs, Moses enjoyed life under Antonio Conte with his 3-4-3 formation in which Moses played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s route to winning the EPL in that period.
When Mauricio Sarri came to Chelsea, Moses again became surplus to requirement and had to leave on loan to Turkey to play for Fernabahçe. After the Fenerbahçe deal was cut short, Moses signed for Inter Milan on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy on 23 January 2020. A deal that made his return to his former boss at the San Siro, Antonio Conte.
John Obi Mikel
Here comes Nigerian greatest player for Chelsea FC. Mikel spent 11 years (2006-2017) at the West London outfit and in those years, many trophies were won by the Ex-Super Eagles’ midfielder.
Just as Victor Moses is loved by Antonio Conte, Mikel was also loved by Jose Mourinho during his days at the Bridge. So much that when the French veteran midfielder (Claude Makélélé) left for Paris St Germain in 2008, leaving the defensive midfield position vacant.
Throughout the 2008–09 season, Mikel saw a great deal of playing time due to an injury to Michael Essien. During this period of increased action, Mikel performed admirably in the role.
Also, he served faithfully under managers like Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Di Mateo, and Rafael Benitez.
Mikel left England in 2017 as 4 times winner of The English FA Cup, 2 League Cup (Carabao Cup), 2 English Premier League, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 Europa League and 1 Community Shield.
A total of 11 laurels won. A Legend!
