Super Eagles keeper Maduka Okoye is wanted by Ajax

Maduka Okoye was careful about making any statements after his club’s 2-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk. Just ahead of the game RTV Rijnmond (cited by fcupdate.nl) has reported that Ajax want the 21-year-old Sparta Rotterdam keeper. A few days later, now equipped with a deeper knowledge of what happened, Okoye has confirmed the rumors that Ajax have phoned Sparta Rotterdam to Transfermarkt.

Okoye has every reason to be confident. Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, the goalkeeper first reached prominence when Gernot Rohr—after being recommended by the former Fortuna Düsseldorf sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel—nominated him to the Nigerian national team in October 2019—he then made his debut in a friendly against Brazil (1-1). Nine months later, Okoye joined Sparta Rotterdam, where he conquered the number one job from Benjamin van Leer.

In the beginning, the keeper, whose father is from Nigeria and the mother from Germany, played for Sparta’s second team in the Tweede Divisie (third division). “I think that went down very well with the 1st team,” Okoye said. “I worked hard and they had to give me an opportunity, which when it finally arrived I made the most out of it.” Okoye certainly impressed and the Dutch national team coach Frank de Boer and former Ajax legend, who still has quite a bit of influence at this former club even called him one of the best keepers in the Eredivisie.

The five times Nigerian national team player now has to debate whether a jump to a top club like Ajax is coming too early.