Around this same time two years ago, three prominent Nigerian players had just completed moves to China.
It was January 2017 and Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi had just joined Tianjin TEDA, same as his compatriot Brown Ideye. Another Super Eagles star Odion Ighalo joined Changchun Yatai. Another Nigerian player, Obafemi Martins, was already in China after his move from Seattle Sounders in the MLS to Shanghai Shenhua in China a year earlier.
Two years on and there are only two of those Nigerian players remaining in China’s top division; Ighalo and Ideye.
John Mikel Obi had two underwhelming seasons in China and has returned to England
After two seasons with TEDA, Mikel has returned to England where he seems to have settled quickly at Middlesbrough while Martins had his contract waived by Shenhua after they lost patience with his slow recovery from a long term injury. His level of fitness is still unknown while he’s still without a club.
A longterm injury has ended Obafemi Martins’ stay in China
Ideye never felt settled at TEDA and even a getaway at Malaga could not spark his career.
Brown Ideye never felt settled in China and struggled to make an impact
Of these four Nigerian players, only Ighalo can boast of a decent offering in far East Asia. After a slow start to life in China, he finished his first season there with 15 goals to enable a seventh-place finish for Changchun Yatai.
It was in his second season with Changchun Yatai that he really showed his worth, scoring 21 goals. The 21 goals do not tell the full story of his impact in the 2018 CSL season. That he managed to score that much for a club that got relegated showed how dominant he was in the league. The only player that scored more was Wu Lei who had 27 for the eventual champions Shanghai SIPG.
