Nigeria international, Ogenyi Onazi has disclosed that he came close to joining Chelsea in the initial phase of his professional football journey, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
Onassis caught the eyes of the Premier League powerhouse following an impressive performance at the 2009 FIFA U17 World Cup, a tournament Nigeria finished first runner up to Switzerland.
Regrettably, he couldn't secure a deal with the Chelsea due to age restrictions. Subsequently, in 2011.
Onazi found his football home at Serie A club Lazio, starting initially with the youth teams before earning his place in the first team.
“I was going to sign for Chelsea, but my manager decided that we should go to Italy. When I was young, I almost signed for Chelsea, but we were underage and couldn’t play. We had to wait until we were 18,” said, the former Trabzonspor midfielder.
“There was a lot of process. That’s why my manager decided that we would go to Italy at that time, so we could start in Lazio’s second team and then, when we developed, we could get promoted to the team.” Onazi added.
The 31 year-old was an integral member of the 2013 AFCON winning Super Eagles, featuring in every match in the knockout stages without missing a minute of action.
By Olujimi Dare Ogun