Former Super Eagles star, Ogenyi Onazi has disclosed that he almost signed for English Premier League club, Chelsea at the early stage of his professional career.
The midfielder had a trial at Chelsea after an impressive display at the 2009 FIFA U17 World Cup where he helped Nigeria to a second-place finish.
Onazi explained that he failed to sign a deal with the Premier League giants because he had not attained the age of maturity.
He eventually joined Serie A club Lazio in 2011 and initially featured for the youth sides of the club before he gained promotion to the first team.
The 31-year-old told Sports Arena; “When I was young, I almost signed for Chelsea, but we were underage and couldn’t play. We had to wait until we were 18. There was a lot of process.
“That is why my manager decided that we would go to Italy at that time. So ‘he could start in Lazio’s second team and then, when he developed, he could start in the first team’.”
