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Let’s look back on Friday. FC St. Pauli’s first home win. How did you experience it?
“It was really good. We obviously knew that we haven’t won at home this year and there are games that we feel that we should have won. So, yes, it was another opportunity to obviously win a game at home again, that’s three points. That was really important three points, in the context of the league and where we want to go. It was a really good performance from the whole team, some boys scored that needed goals for sure. Obviously, it was a good, complete performance, barring that last-minute goal we conceded. So yes, we know what we need to do and obviously it was good to be able to go and do that on Friday.”
How great was the relief when Manolis Saliakas scored?
“I feel like it was at a point in the game where it was kind of starting to heat up a little bit and I think that the timing of it was really important as well and the way it went in, in front of our fans and you could see the emotion, especially from Manos and the team. I think it was a bit of relief there, obviously, because a lot has been said about us not scoring at home and stuff this season. So, yes, when that first one goes in, there’s always going to be that feeling of relief. But yes, it was an important goal, especially in the timing of the game.”
What was the most intense moment for you on that Friday evening?
“That was probably the relief after the second goal, because again, I feel like Kiel started the second half quite well. Then for us to get that second goal ten minutes into the second half, it’s always an important goal, especially straight after half-time and with the penalty that they missed as well. I think it was good to kind of give ourselves that cushion to carry on playing and kind of keep some nervy moments out of there.”
You celebrated extensively with your fans. Describe this special moment for us.
“I think sometimes we do that, we celebrate, obviously after every win we celebrate with our fans and sometimes we go down to the “Südkurve” and show our appreciation to the fans, especially for sticking through, being there for us all the time. Again, as I’ve said, there’s been some tough times at home this year, some games that we’ve not won that we feel like we should have. The fans have always been there and again, you saw the atmosphere on Friday night, it was electric. It was a great atmosphere and it was just rewarding them for that.”
What was the atmosphere like in the dressing room and were there any celebrations afterwards?
“We were enjoying ourselves, obviously, it was a good feeling. It was quite late as well, so we were enjoying ourselves for a little bit. But then, on Saturday, we had a bit of a gettogether here as a team and kind of enjoyed it as well.”
You were involved in all three goals. Please describe the respective scenes and which goal did you like best?
“The first one, I just switched over to the left and the ball comes to me and I managed to beat the defender and then get a good ball into Jojo (Johannes Eggestein), who sets Manos (Manolis Saliakas) up. I think my favourite would be the second one, I turned in the middle of the pitch and got a nice nutmeg as well on the way, so – but yes, I think it’s just about being able to create opportunities for the team, whether that’s assists or goals or creating the pass before that, whatever makes the team better, that’s what I want to do and keep trying to help the team pick up points in this league.”
You are a very important player in Alexander Blessin’s system and have scored two goals so far. How would you rate your own performance this season?
“I’m quite happy with my performance. I know I can improve, but I feel like in a lot of games against really good opposition, opposition that play Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, I feel like I’ve stepped up and been a strong performer, not been afraid. I think that’s the main thing, not being afraid of anyone at this level. You work your whole career to earn the right to be able to play at this level, so now that you’re here you have to show why you deserve to be here and I think that’s my mentality going into every game: to kind of show why I feel like I deserve to be at this level and again, my journey’s been a long one. To finally get the opportunity here at this level, it’s something I don’t really want to waste.”
With this home win, you have pulled six points clear of Kiel. How important was this win?
“Anytime you’re a new team in a league and your goal is to stay in the league, it’s important to pick up points against teams that are in and around you. I think that for us, we’ve played Kiel now and also Hoffenheim and we’ve managed to pick up points against them as well, so that’s also important. It’s important definitely not to drop points there. In terms of the table, it’s good to keep us in that pack where we feel like we should be in that middle pack in the league. Obviously, there’s some really, really good teams in this league, there’s no hiding that, there’s no denying that. Every single game’s tough, so yes, obviously Friday was really important because Kiel was a team that was just behind us in the league and they came up with us, and again, their goals were similar to ours in terms of staying in the league, so to be able to give ourselves a bit of a buffer and to extend that gap a bit was really important.”
You joined the club in January 2023, how would you describe FC St. Pauli?
“Yes, it’s a great club, it’s a club that’s given me a platform to play on the highest level and I think that’s the biggest thing for me. I left my old club looking to play higher and to test my abilities at the next level and to do that in the second Bundesliga for a year and a half was really good, and then this year in the Bundesliga, it’s a dream come true for me and again, I can’t be thankful enough to the club and the staff who brought me here to give me the opportunity to play here, in front of a wonderful set of fans. We get nearly 30,000 every time. Every time we step out at home, whether we’re playing Osnabrück or we’re playing Bayern. So yes, I think it’s a special thing, it’s a special place; and tickets are hard to get for a reason because it’s a really great place to be.”
Let’s take a look back. How did your career start as a young boy in London?
“I remember first kicking the ball in my first apartment in London, my family’s flat there; and then when I went to school, I had a friend whose uncle ran a Sunday league team and I ended up playing there; and my dad started taking me, and then I started kicking on and just playing and enjoying team football and things like that; and growing up in London, your whole life is kind of football. You go to school, and then after school, you want to go and play football on the streets with your friends, and I think that’s a big part of me. That has always been a big part of me. Something that even to this day I look forward to the most is to be able to have like a kickabout, a friendly kickabout with my friends or to go and watch street football and things like this. That’s a big part of me and part of the reason why I am where I am today. So being in those set-ups, I was at the Arsenal setup as a young boy, at the Chelsea setup, and then moved abroad to Canada as well. So I’ve had a broad experience of being able to learn football in different places and at different ages as well. From there kicking on into non-league in the UK and obviously that’s a completely different football to what this is, and it definitely teaches you a lot about yourself as a person and a player and what really drives you. So I’m just thankful for those experiences really.”
You spent seven years at Chelsea FC. Please tell us about it.
“It was unbelievable. I think for me at the time, I was at the best academy in world football. You can see by the players that have come through in my generation. In the couple of years that I was there, the players – we came through some of the top players in the world and top players in world football because of the set-up, the facilities, the coaching staff. All of them were fantastic and really helped guide us into being not just good footballers but also good men as well, and we were competing on the European world stages and were winning tournaments from a young age, and it really drove that winning mentality into all of us as players. So as I said, I can’t be more thankful than to my coaches and things that helped me as I was coming up through the ranks at Chelsea.”
…and about your time in Canada and England in the Premiere League?
“Yes, really good. Canada was an eye-opener for me. I went there thinking that the level wouldn’t be as good as what I was used to, but when I got to the academy at Toronto FC, the facilities were top, the players were top as well, and yes, that was when I first realised that football in North America and especially Canada was really, really blossoming, and it was one of those things that I could see from the players. I’ve played with players there who’ve gone to have great careers in Europe, in European football as well, so that was a really good experience. Then obviously West Ham was a great time for me, really taught me how to be a true professional, taught me how to manage the day-to-day workings of being a professional footballer, and then gave me something to look up to, to the top level, seeing some top, top Premier League players playing. The training every day was really, really good for me, and set the level for me for something that I wanted to reach, and now hopefully, in my eyes, I’m closer to that and can keep pushing towards that.”
What do you think is the biggest difference between the Premiere League and the Bundesliga?
“I would say in the Premier League you’ve got – there’s a lot of really, really good players. I think it’s a lot of individual quality. Teams back home tend to play more individually-based and not as a unit. In Germany, everything’s really tactical and especially here again, like when we haven’t got multi-millions to spend on world-class players. We have to either find really, really good players for cheap or we have to develop our own. So, I think when you look at teams like Chelsea and the amount of money they are able to spend, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, all these teams, you’re going to be able to find some of the best players in the world, and again, the physicality of it and the individual quality sometimes, it’s really hard to play against and you even see it here in this league when you come up against individuals who are just quicker, stronger and just better than you and it’s just hard. So, I feel like in England you tend to face a lot more of that.”
You mentioned street football. In the summer, you met Michael Olise from FC Bayern and played football with him. Tell us about it.
“It’s just something we do when we’re in London, especially in the off-season if we want to play football with some friends and things like that. We all just call on each other, and I came to a session and Michael was there. I’ve played with him before there and this was just before he was heading to Bayern. He was still at Crystal Palace at the time, and just before the Olympics, so it was good to play with him. He’s an unbelievable player. His quality, and not just his quality, a lot of people don’t realise how great his mentality is and his attitude. Again, he’s a multi-million pound player, but he’s working just as hard as anyone else in those sessions and he’s playing with friends that he’s known since he was a kid and some players aren’t professional there as well. For me again, it’s something a lot of us look forward to because we get to see friends that we grew up with and played with all our lives and are now all around the world, me in Germany, Michael in Germany, other friends playing in other parts of Europe and other parts of the UK, being able to all come together back in London and see each other is always good fun.”
What was your personal highlight of the first 12 match days?
“Personally I would say maybe the Freiburg win or the Hoffenheim one. I think both of them were really hard performances. In both games we came with a game plan and executed it really well. Freiburg I think was special because it was our first one in the Bundesliga and to be able to score and create and also set up a goal as well was good, so yes, probably the Freiburg game I’d say.”
What are your expectations for the rest of the season and how do you avoid relegation?
“For me I think the most important thing for us is to take each game as it comes. We’ve got three really big games now just before Christmas and look, we can – every game in this league, we’re able to take points so we need to make sure we go into those games with that mentality. Not look at ourselves as the underdog because we’re rightfully on the same pitch as every other team in this league. It’s eleven against eleven, so we have to go in with that mentality that we’re not inferior to anyone, we deserve to be here. To give a good battle, and if we lose games then we lose games but we must also make sure that we give it everything and try to avoid being in that relegation battle, look forward and try and pick up as many points as we can, especially before Christmas, and when we get back from the small break, we have some really, really important games against some teams who we feel like are similar to us in and around it, and if we pick up some points there then hopefully we’ll have a strong end to the season as well.”
How would you describe yourself – on and off the pitch?
“On the pitch I would say I’m extremely competitive, really don’t like losing and I want to win and I want to win by any means possible, give everything to win. Off the pitch, probably just a bit of a joker, always. Trying to put smiles on people’s faces, make people laugh. Just have fun because I know what it’s like in football, I’ve been at a lot of clubs, I’ve been right at the bottom and now at the top level as well so just enjoy every moment. For me, that’s the most important thing. I’m lucky and blessed to be here in this position, and we all are. I think sometimes when you’re in the bubble and you’re working hard and you’re playing games, it’s easy to forget where you’re at, and it’s easy to forget how privileged we are to be here. So yes, we’re allowed to enjoy our work and we should enjoy it. I think that’s the main thing: always trying to work hard but also enjoy it as well.”
Do you enjoy living in Hamburg?
“Yes, yes. It is a great city. I love it, me and my fiancée – we love it here, and we’ve got a dog and everything, so it’s really good. It’s a great city for us, as I said: I’ve lived all over the world, and for me it’s really good. It’s quite similar to London in some aspects, just on a much smaller scale. But that does suit me as well because there’s nothing worse than having to travel one side of London to the other.”
What do you expect from next Saturday’s match against German champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen?
“My aim is to go there and win the game, that’s every single game, no matter who we play, doesn’t matter if they’re champions, we have to go there with absolutely no fear. There’s absolutely nothing to be scared of, we’ve seen near enough everything this league has to offer and we’ve come up short in some games and we’ve had really close battles, we lost by a wonder goal against Bayern Munich and a late goal in Dortmund. So, there’s no reason why we can’t go to Leverkusen and also put a strong performance and win the game. Again, I have every belief in the ability of myself, the players we have here, and the coaching staff to be able to do that. So, it’ll be a great game, hopefully. Really good players, as we said, really good players, individual quality, all over the place, all over the pitch on both sides. So, as long as we can get it right and go there and have the right game plan, then hopefully we can come back with the three points.”
How and where will you celebrate Christmas?
“We’re not sure yet, I think we probably will head back home to the UK and spend some time there, see some people. We’ve not been back since we got engaged either or anything, so it would be nice to go back and see some friends and stuff, catch some football games, the football doesn’t stop in the UK. It’s the one opportunity I can to go see Arsenal play, so maybe I’ll do that.”
Do you have dreams and wishes for the future?
“Yes, I want to keep playing at the highest level as long as possible. I’ve always wanted to play in the Premier League, I’ve always wanted to play Champions League football and Bundesliga as well. So, I want to keep pushing and try and hopefully push to that level. It’s down to me, I’m on the pitch now, I’m playing at the highest level. For me, I want to kick on again, play international football. Play for Nigeria at the next World Cup, and hopefully as long as my performances keep being strong and improving, then I’ll do that.
