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Sports News of Monday, 25 May 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

How I transformed from a defender to a midfielder - Ndidi

Wilfred Ndidi Wilfred Ndidi

Nigeria international, Wilfred Ndidi, has opened up on the magical transformation in his career starting as a defender who turned out to be a midfielder.

Ndidi has since become both club and country's favourites since joining Leicester City in 2017 for £17 million.

In a chat with Out of Home Podcast, the 22-year-old gave credit to his former Genk boss, Peter Maes, for the impact on him.

“That was when I went to Genk. I was signed by Alex McLeish – who was the manager then but he was using me as a left-back and as a right-back, because we had [Kalidou] Koulibaly and [Kara] Mbodji and [Christian] Kabasele playing in the as central back position,” Ndidi said.

“My first game playing in that position was against Gent who were preparing for the Champions League plus it was an away game. I was substituted in the first half, I was so sad and I didn’t know what was going on in the pitch. I was just running like a headless chicken,” he added.

“The manager called me during the next training and kept encouraging me because he knew I was nervous. He told me ‘just play with your qualities, be yourself and keep it simple’.

“In the next game, I was substituted again in the first half but the thing was that the manager believed in me. He saw something in me and he keeps on pushing me to be better.

“I was too skinny to play in that position and everywhere I went, I was told that I had to work hard, you have to build your muscles and all that.

“McLeish left after six months and the new manager [Peter Maes] came in and transformed me into a defensive midfielder. It was another challenge and I had to prove myself.

“That was another pressure for me because I was trying to prove myself being a central defender and he moved me to a position where I never played before.

"I was nervous, scared but I was doing well in training but that was very different from a game situation.”

“I got confident to the extent that I could shoot because I couldn’t shoot before for the fear of being substituted in the first half. Here I am today.

“The manager didn’t change my position and left me there. He changed my position and kept encouraging me.”

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