Omeruo: From the World Cup to the Championship

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Nigeria's best player in Brazil will return to Middlesbrough for the second season running, but is that really the best he can do?

ANALYSIS

By Solace Chukwu

Ask most Nigerian football fans who the best player was for the Super Eagles in Brazil and seven times out of 10, you are likely to hear “Vincent Enyeama!” 

It was indeed that bad. 

There are few teams with designs on world domination who would list their goalkeeper as their best player. It was not a tournament for enhancing reputations.

The other three respondents though are likely to say “Kenneth Omeruo,” a view considerably closer to the mark. The Chelsea defender is really the only outfield player in the Nigerian side that emerged with credit from the World Cup. There is a distinctly ‘un-African’ quality to his defensive style; indeed, in a continent whose football is often lazily stereotyped as physical, Omeruo is a refreshing departure from the norm. Elegant on the ball and almost psychic in his anticipation of danger (he made a team-high 11 interceptions in Brazil), he has become a leader at the heart of Nigeria’s defence, despite being the youngest member of the back four.

It is bewildering that, having shone so brightly at the World Cup, the Chelsea defender will spend the next season on loan at Championship side Middlesbrough. Juxtapose this with the fact Brown Ideye just extracted a club-record transfer fee from Premier League West Bromwich Albion, in spite of the fact he did not make the Super Eagles’ squad to Brazil, and it is barely credible.

Someone somewhere clearly is failing to do his job. Ideye was quick and effusive in his praise for his agents in the immediate aftermath of the transfer to the Black Country, and expressed his shock at the immediacy of the move. It is clear to see that Hootan Ahmadi and Ali Barat do not faff about. If only we could say the same of German agent Ohne Berater.

Omeruo | Facing another year away from the limelight he so richly deserves 

The World Cup, with global football’s cognoscenti all in one place for four weeks, is the ultimate shop window. Admittedly, there are pitfalls in signing a player based on his performances over seven games or less, but Omeruo can hardly be said to have been flattered by Nigeria’s system as say a player like Ron Vlaar (who contrived to look world-class in a back three for a Dutch team built to counter-attack) was. The 29-year-old Dutchman is drawing attention from across Europe at the moment, Omeruo will be facing the might of Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town in the coming campaign.

There was reportedly some interest from newly-promoted Queens Park Rangers in the Super Eagles’ defender before his decision to drop down to the Championship. Harry Redknapp has brought veteran Rio Ferdinand and Stephen Caulker from Cardiff into his squad in a bid to stave off relegation. Rio is 35 and surely does not have the legs to play every game, but his expertise and know-how could have been vital for Omeruo’s development, whose style is similar to the ex-Manchester United defender.

Consider also that 15 Premier League starts (at the very least) for any of the newly-promoted sides would be infinitely more beneficial than being a regular in the Championship, and you see how Omeruo’s management team would have been better advised to look into the proposition more closely. As it stands, Omeruo has taken the ‘safe’ option, but it is this same risk-averse decision-making that has kept a certain John Obi Mikel from living up to his potential. You might have heard of him, Kenneth?

Herr Berater has recently had to handle a similar situation, having overseen the return of Dani Carvajal to Real Madrid following a successful spell at Bayer Leverkusen. Always a bright prospect, Carvajal found his path to the first team blocked (predictably for youngsters at Madrid) and moved to Germany, albeit with a buy-back option in his contract, which was duly exercised.

Mourinho | Selective Preferences when it comes to youth development?

There are strong parallels with Omeruo. If Chelsea and Jose Mourinho truly believe he has a future at the club, surely it would be the simplest thing for the same solution to be reached. A transfer to a Premier League side with a buy-back option if the player proves himself would be far more beneficial for all parties. Why was this not broached?

Is Aitor Karanka so big a draw that Omeruo is willing to return as his willing pupil, wagging and obedient? The Middlesbrough manager’s relationship with Mourinho is well-known, and it is because of this many are willing to believe the Special One has plans for Omeruo. An enticing viewpoint, but perhaps we ought to question why Mourinho would not rather develop the player himself. Is that a challenge too great?

If patience is the plea, it becomes difficult to understand Mourinho’s decision to entrust Kurt Zouma, a year younger and considerably less experienced, with a place in the Chelsea squad ahead of the season? For all of his ability, Zouma is rather raw and occasionally rash, a mark of his youth and inexperience. Omeruo, already an African champion, was recuperating from his exertions at the FIFA Confederations Cup while Kurt Zouma was lifting the U20 World Cup last year in Turkey.

There is an interesting subplot: Omeruo was signed in 2012 under Andre Villas-Boas, not Mourinho. As such, Mourinho has no special attachment or obligation to the Nigerian. Zouma, on the other hand, was identified and signed by Mourinho at great cost (£12million) for an inexperienced centre-back. He cannot be begrudged the right to prioritise those arrivals he presided over.

This is a good time for Omeruo to wake up and sniff some of this caffeinated goodness: the boss does not always know best. Mourinho’s record with youth in defence is not excellent bar Raphael Varane, and, by the time the young Frenchman was made a regular at Real Madrid, the abrasive Special One had pretty much burnt every bridge at Casa Blanca and was beyond caring.

How willing would he be to do the same in a situation where he has something to lose i.e. a personal legacy and the cult-following of the Chelsea faithful? 

As an answer, I present to you, the curious case of Kenneth Omeruo: the only Chelsea defender who has actively achieved success as an international, but who is not good enough for the boss to take under his wing.