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Marvin Park isn’t a popular name in Nigerian football circles but the Real Madrid winger, 23, is having a great time on loan at Las Palmas, writes ’TANA AIYEJINA
For years, Nigerian football fans craved to have one of their own stars file out in the colours of LaLiga giants Real Madrid.
The record 14-time UEFA Champions League winners, founded in 1902, have dominated global club football in their 122 years of existence. However, no Nigerian footballer has been a part of the club’s successes in over a century.
The likes of retired Super Eagles stars Mutiu Adepoju and Dimeji Lawal tried but both Ibadan-born ex-footballers came agonisingly close, only managing stints with the B team in the Segunda Division and Segunda B Division. Both were never called up into the main squad of the Spanish powerhouse.
David Alaba, who has a Nigerian father and a mother from the Philippines, joined Los Blancos in May 2021, but the defender, who was born in Vienna, has Austrian citizenship and plays for their national team.
However, little-known winger Marvin Park, currently on loan at UD Las Palmas from Real Madrid, doesn’t come across as one with Nigerian roots.
Though not a popular figure in Nigeria, Park’s middle names — Olawale Akinlabi – shows his roots are Nigerian, specifically from the Yoruba tribe.
Born in Palma de Mallorca to a Nigerian father and a South Korean mother, the Las Palmas prodigy has one of the most interesting stories in LaLiga.
Initially, he wasn’t a fan of football, back when he was kicking the ball around on the streets of Palma with his brother at a young age, but Park gradually grew to love the game.
Marvin joined local club Sporting Ciutat de Palma at the age of six, but his parents decided to move to England three years later. Aged nine, Marvin joined the academy of the then-National League club Tranmere Rovers, where he stayed for three years.
The youngster attracted interests from various Premier League powerhouses, but his father was confident that his son would have more chances to pursue a career as a professional footballer if they moved back to Spain.
And that’s exactly what the family did, returning to Palma, where Marvin would sign for AD Penya Arrabal in 2014.
“He didn’t talk at all,” Xisca Coll, delegate of AD Penya Arrabal, told El Pas. “He was super shy. He didn’t talk to me or to the kids.”
It took LaLiga clubs no time to spot his talent and Real Madrid were the ones to acquire his services. Los Blancos brought the youngster to the Spanish capital, where he joined the club’s Juvenil C side under lvaro Benito.
Marvin initially felt homesick, but his coach and teammates helped him to adapt to his new environment.
“He’s the fastest player I’ve ever seen in my life,” Benito claimed. He has the feet of a sprinter.”
Marvin worked his way up the ranks into Real Madrid Castilla, while he celebrated UEFA Youth League success under coach Raul Gonzlez in 2019/20. The talented winger started in six games, including the final against Benfica, where he recorded an assist for Real Madrid’s third goal in a 3-2 triumph.
Having registered three assists and a goal in seven UEFA Youth League matches, as well as three goals and one assist in the league with Real Madrid Castilla, he caught the eye of Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane.
In the summer of 2020, Real Madrid undertook their pre-season preparations at their training ground in Valdebebas, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Zidane, who had lifted the Euro 2000 trophy with France just one day before Marvin was born, called up the youngster to participate in first-team training.
In September 2020, Zidane handed Marvin his official debut with Real Madrid in a 0-0 draw away at Real Sociedad. The winger would go on to make another three appearances for the first team before joining Las Palmas on loan in the summer of 2022.
Boasting outstanding agility and pace, Marvin can feature as a right winger, as well as a right-back or a wing-back depending on the team’s formation. His versatility and ability to contribute at both ends of the pitch have allowed coach Garca Pimienta to use him in different positions in his two years at the club.
Injuries didn’t allow him to find consistency in his first season, but Garca Pimienta didn’t hesitate to hail the youngster’s development.
“Marvin Park’s misfortune is the injuries he has had, which have stopped him (from finding consistency),” the coach said in February. “He is 22 and should be a very important player. He has taken a step forward by coming to UD Las Palmas. He has shown his level, little by little getting in shape.”
Marvin ended the 2022/23 campaign with 24 appearances in the Segunda division, contributing to his team’s efforts to clinch promotion to the topflight. Las Palmas decided to extend his loan deal for a second term and Marvin has already featured in 16 of his team’s 21 league games this season. He has started in five matches, including a major 2-1 home victory over Atltico de Madrid in November.
Usually coming off the bench to provide his team with a boost of energy in the second half, Marvin is gradually earning more minutes on the pitch. He played his 25th game of the season on Saturday as 10-man Los Amarillos were edged 1-0 by Barcelona at the Camp Nou. He has two assists to his name this term.
Meanwhile, the future seems bright for the winger, who accepted a call-up from Spain’s U-19 side in 2019. Yet, having featured in just one game for the Spanish youth side, Marvin is still eligible to represent either Nigeria or South Korea due to his parents’ descent.
Given his talent and development over the last few years, it will come as no surprise to anyone if all three national teams re-engage in a tug-of-war to have this talented player representing them.
If he chooses to represent his father’s country Nigeria, then he would have been the first footballer with Nigerian citizenship to proudly wear the colours of Madrid.
And the fans can then proudly sing, “Hala Madrid!…y nada más” (Spanish for ‘Come on Madrid!…and nothing more’).