Villareal gaffer, Unai Emery says the club’s fans are beginning to see the real Samuel Chukwueze that wowed them when he signed for the Yellow Submarine in 2018 following the Nigerian’s man-of-the-match display in the 2-0 loss to visiting Atletico Madrid at the La Cerámica on Sunday evening.
The Nigerian started his first LaLiga game since he featured for the first 45 minutes in the 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad at the end of November 2020 and left Emery wondering where the 2015 FIAF U-17 World Cup winner had kept this form since the start of the season.
Chukwueze completed the most key passes (4), the most dribbles (4) and he also won the most fouls for the Yellow Submarine (5).After Gerard Moreno, the 21-year-old registered the most shots (3) even though none was on target.
Emery described the Nigerian’s performance as “great news for the future of the team in this final part of the season” and noted that they are “beginning to see the Chukwueze that most fans knew and that this year for some reasons they have not seen.”
The former Arsenal of England coach admitted that Chukwueze’s groin injury which was now corrected courtesy of the surgery he undergone in Germany on February 4 this year was weighing him down.
Chukwueze began his Villareal career like a house on fire after joining in November 2018.The Super Eagle made it clear on arrival at Villarreal that he was a special player. His speed and ease of overwhelming rivals made him grow very fast in the team.
The Nigerian suddenly became a special player, a great footballer for the Yellow Submarine. The club worked quickly and shielded him, improving his contract and increasing his release clause first to €65m and later €100m when top club sides in Europe in both Spain and England started making enquiries about him.