The Inspiring Rise Of Super Eagles Defender Who Was One-time Tottenham Outcast

You can't name five in-form Super Eagles players without mentioning Williams Troost-Ekong as a result of his wonderful performances with Serie A side Udinese this season.

The 25-year-old centre-back is having a great career at the moment, but how has the journey been for the former Tottenham youth academy who wasn't given any preference during his days in North London?

Unfruitful Spell In England

The Netherlands-born defender started his football career in England, where he was one of Tottenham's highly-rated youngsters alongside Harry Kane.

The young defender, whose dream was to feature for the Lilywhites' first team, unfortunately failed to progress through the ranks and he eventually departed from the North London club having spent three years.

Ekong's  Switch To  Lowly-rated and Unappreciated Clubs

It is natural for everyone to think that a player's career is on a downward trend should he leave a top-rated club like Tottenham for unrated clubs like Eredivisie sides FC Groningen and FC Dordrecht.

Unfortunately, this was the route taken by the 25-year-old in 2013 and 2014 respectively, and he was unsurprisingly unknown to many Super Eagles supporters.

Ekong's Fast-paced Rise To Fame

The centre-back never let his condition get the best of him. Instead, he ensured wonderful and consistent performances during his loan spell with FC Dordrecht.

Luckily, Gent came calling for his signature in 2015 and he was immediately loaned out to Norwegian club FK Haugesund, upon signing on the dotted line for the Belgian top-flight team.

That was the turning point for the defender, whose performances were good enough to attract Bursaspor's attention in 2017.

He featured in just 28 League matches for the Turkish Super Lig side before Serie A outfit Udinese came calling. He moved to Italy before start of the season, and he's currently one of the most reliable defenders in the League.