Wilfred Ndidi

Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team.

Ndidi is known for his defensive prowess.

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.

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.

The ball was adjudged to be travelling at over 111 km/h.

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.

On 3 December 2016, Genk agreed a £17 million transfer deal with Leicester City.

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The deal was confirmed on 5 January 2017.

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.

He made his first Premier League start on 14 January 2017 against Chelsea at home in a 3–0 defeat.

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.

In a 3–1 win over Liverpool on 27 February 2017, Ndidi won 11 of his 14 tackles, a feat bettered only by Chelsea's N'Golo Kanté who made 14 tackles against the same club in January.

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.

In May 2018, he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

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

He was included in the African Cup of Nations 2019 squad and played in Nigeria's first match against Burundi.

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.

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.

On 29 December 2023, Ndidi was named in the Nigerian squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

However, he sustained an injury in early January 2024 and was replaced by Alhassan Yusuf.

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.

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

Leicester City

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.

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.

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.

Notwithstanding, he joined up with his teammates in the U-20 team the following year, forming the bedrock of the midfield.