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Anthony Nlebem.
Nigeria-eligible wing-back Destiny Udogie has voiced his intention of playing in the English Premier League.
The talented 19-year-old of Nigerian descent joined Tottenham Hotspur in the 2022 summer for an initial fee of £15m, potentially rising to £20m from Serie A club Udinese, before he was loaned back to Udinese.
But the Udinese defender is determined to continue his professional football in England and has eyed a return to London side Tottenham.
The wing-back hinted that he was yet to get a call from Spurs manager Antonio Conte since he signed for the London side.
“I still haven’t heard from Antonio Conte. The Premier League, however, doesn’t scare me. The game is fantastic, and I’ve always spoken English at home with my parents, who were born in Nigeria.”
“The Premier League is amazing, I speak English fluently,” he said.
“I want to improve my skills here in Serie A, and then the time will come for Tottenham,” as quoted by Fabrizio Romano on his Twitter handle.
Udogie has demonstrated so far this campaign that he is one of the best wing-backs in Serie A. The Nigerian-Italian has scored twice in eight Serie A games and was on for the entire duration of their 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Sunday.
According to Football London, Spurs manager Conte said in August that Udogie was a good investment for the club, adding that the player needed to play more games to improve.
“You said it well, he’s a player for the future,” said the 53-year-old in his pre-match press conference for August’s match vs Wolves. “I think he is a good prospect for Tottenham because we are talking about a young player.
“For sure this player needs to develop like Spence and in my opinion a good investment for the club. Now he continues to play this season with Udinese and in this way he can play regularly.
“When you are young you need to play to improve your experience. For sure we are talking about a good prospect, but we are talking about a player for the future not for the present. He has to develop and grow with a group of players with more experience,” Conte said.
Udinese are fourth on the Serie A table with 20 points from nine matches, three points behind leaders Napoli.
His defensive strength and offensive play could be a plus for him if he gets the call-up by Conte.