Nigerian Fullback Reveals How He Joined Barcelona; Hails Ex-Teammates Bellerín, Adama Traore

Published: June 10, 2020

BK Hacken defender Godswill Ekpolo has spoken about how he ended up at Barcelona, stating that he was monitored at close quarters during a youth tournament, where his team faced the Catalonia giants in the final.

Ekpolo was teammates with Arsenal star Héctor Bellerín and top dribbler in this season's English Premier League Adama Traore at La Masia and he has lauded the qualities of the former Barcelona wingers.

Speaking to Göteborgs-Posten (subscription required), Ekpolo said : "They looked at another player in my team. He was left-footed - and good. But I played well in that tournament.

"We met Barcelona in the final and lost by 8-1. I made the goal! I was a midfielder back then. After that, Barcelona told my coach that they wanted me."

The former Nigeria U23 international revealed that he was more than delighted to join Barcelona when he was ten years old.

"Crazy! That feeling ... At first, I didn't believe it. And when I got there, the level was so high.

"All the guys were so good. Héctor Bellerín was one of the best they had then. Even Adama Traore. He's a year younger than me, but he was so good. I was one of the bad guys," added Ekpolo.

Ekpolo made his debut for Nigeria's U23 national team in a friendly against Brazil back in March 2016 and trained with the Dream Team VI before the Olympic Games but was dropped from the final roster.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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