‘I will love to play with Jay-Jay Okocha’ – Awoniyi

Super Eagles star Taiwo Awoniyi has stated that he would have loved to play alongside the master dribbler Jay Jay Okocha.

The Nottingham Forest of England forward was asked to name the African player he wished he could have played with in the English Premier League.

Okocha featured for Bolton Wanderers and Hull City in England, but during his time at the Reebok Stadium, he produced remarkable performances in the English topflight.

Bolton fans were so in love with the Nigerian that they went on to print shirts with the inscription “Jay-Jay – so good they named him twice”.

And Ilorin-born Awoniyi, who is beginning to settle in England, disclosed that he had seen clips of Okocha’s exploits, including the sensational goal against Oliver Kahn in Germany. Awoniyi said: “For sure I will pick Jay-Jay Okocha, had it been that he was still able to play. He is one of the best players in the world for me,” Awoniyi posited.

“I watched his clips on YouTube and when I was in Germany, they showed me the goals he scored in Germany against Oliver Kahn I think. And of course, everyone knows Jay-Jay Okocha in Nigeria.”