Transfer: How I Almost Signed for Chelsea – Ex-Super Eagles Midfielder, Onazi

Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has revealed that he almost signed for Chelsea at the early stage of his professional football career.

Onazi had a trial at Chelsea after impressing at the 2009 FIFA U17 World Cup where he helped Nigeria to a second-place finish.

However, he failed to sign a deal with the Premier League giants because he had not attained the age of majority.

Onazi 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.

“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,” Onazi told Ajansspor.