Done deals : Manchester City confirm two Nigerian young stars have signed new contracts

Published: July 16, 2021

With a statement on their official website, Manchester City have announced that seventeen of their players who contributed to the club winning the U18 Premier League national title and Premier League 2 have signed their first professional contracts, with two of the players of Nigerian descent.

As exclusively reported by allnigeriasoccer.com seventeen months ago, the scholarship deal signed by Tai Sodje, nephew of former Super Eagles defenders Efe and Sam Sodje, has been upgraded to a professional contract.

Ignoring the fact that he has famous uncles, Tai Sodje needs no introduction after making a splash in his first season in the U18 Premier League in 2020-2021.

A regular on the scoresheet, the 17-year-old finished the season as Manchester City U18s top scorer with 19 goals in 22 appearances, including a hat-trick against Liverpool.

Despite the Citizens fielding a very strong squad in the more prestigious FA Youth Cup, Sodje made his debut in the competition in a 6-1 rout of Birmingham City back in March.

The second Nigeria-eligible striker to sign his first professional contract with Manchester City is Adedire Awokoya Mebude.

In case his name does not ring a bell, Dire is the younger brother of newly-signed Watford winger Dapo Mebude.

Dire Mebude took to social media a week ago to announce that he has signed a new contract at Manchester City.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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