English Premier League club Watford FC has confirmed that it has reached agreement to sign highly-rated young Nigerian goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, on a five-and-a-half year deal that will begin on January 1, 2022.
The club said the Super Eagles’ number one joins the Hornets for an undisclosed fee from Eredivisie outfit Sparta Rotterdam, to where he will return on loan until the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
A regular starter for the Dutch club, Okoye has lined up between the sticks in each of their games so far this season, while he has made 13 appearances for his country since debuting in a 1-1 draw with Brazil in 2019.
Born in Germany to a Nigerian father and German mother, the 22-year-old played in the youth ranks at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Düsseldorf before moving to Sparta Rotterdam in the summer of 2020.
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He won Sparta’s Player of the Season award last term for a string of stellar performances, helping his side claim an eighth-place finish in the league.
The 6ft 6in shot-stopper’s consistent displays for both club and country have seen him linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs, but he has now put pen to paper on a long-term deal with Watford.
Okoye will have no issues settling down with the Hornets when he finally arrives, as the already employ 6 Nigerian players, including national teammates William Troost-Ekong, Oghenekaro Etebo and Emmanuel Dennis.
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