WILFRED NDIDI
LEICESTER CITY
The Nigerian missed out on a Champions League place but ended the 2019-20 campaign at the top of the top tackler chart alongside the Red Devil.
Wilfred Ndidi has finished the 2019-20 English Premier League season as the joint top tackler alongside Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, while his Leicester City teammate Ricardo Pereira finished in third place.
The Nigeria international was on parade from start to finish in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at home to the Red Devils, which means they fell just short of a place in next season’s Champions League.
Needing a win over the Old Trafford giants to seal the berth to Europe’s elite club competition following Chelsea’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brendan Rodgers’ men were unable to find the net against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, who got their goals through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and Jesse Lingard.
Since his move from Belgian top-flight side Genk, the 23-year-old has been outstanding for the Foxes in the English elite division.
In his first season, the Super Eagles star topped the tacklers’ chart with 138 successes and in the process was named as Leicester City’s Young Player of the Year for the 2017/18 season.
He repeated that feat the following season after garnering 144 tackles ahead of Idrissa Gueye (143) and Wan-Bissaka (128) – making history by becoming the first player to lead the top of tackle charts for two consecutive seasons.
With this, he extended that feat to become the first player to top this category in three consecutive seasons.
The Super Eagles star will now shift his attention to helping Brendan Rodgers’ men to an impressive outing in the Europa League next term.
This season, Ndidi featured in 33 Premier League games with two goals to his name for the King Power Stadium outfit.
In a recent chat with Out of Home Podcast, the 23-year-old revealed playing under Rodgers has improved him as a player.
“Playing under [Brendan] Rodgers has changed my game so much after from the fact that I moved from an attacking team to a possession team,” he said.
“When he [Rodgers] came, he was trying to make us understand that he will always be there for us. He makes time to meet the players individually and tries to make us understand that there is space in the sky for us to improve.
“Since he came, I won’t lie to you; I have improved as a player because I now understand simple things I never knew.
“No disrespect to other managers, Brendan took his time to explain things like understanding space, understanding the game, where you can actually be and how you can actually improve on yourself and your quality.”
© Goal.com
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