Forgotten Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye joins Udinese
Udinese FC today announced that Maduka Okoye has joined the club, penning a four-year deal which will keep him in the club until 2027.
“Maduka Okoye is an Udinese player, having joined the club from Watford FC on a contract that runs until 30 June 2027.
As a goalkeeper with a real physical presence and impressive technique, Okoye already has international experience with Nigeria under his belt, as well as playing time in the Championship and the Eredivisie.”
Okoye joined Watford from Rotherdam before the English side got relegated, and the Nigerian shot stopper had failed to break into the first team of Watford, who are now relegated to the Championship.
Okoye was born in Düsseldorf, Germany into a Nigerian family on 28 August 1999, going on to join the Bayer Leverkusen youth ranks, where he stayed until he made the move to Fortuna Düsseldorf in 2017. His debut season with the club saw him make 13 appearances for the under-19s and five for the second tier in the fourth tier of the German football pyramid.
The following year, he became a stable part of the second team, featuring in 15 matches and training with the first team regularly.
In 2019/20, his 14 appearances for Fortuna’s second team earn him a move to Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam, where he played 29 games in all competitions in 2020/21, before going up to 31 matches the following season.
Watford then swooped for the goalkeeper, where he spent the 2022/23 campaign.
Okoye has 16 senior Nigeria caps to his name, with his debut coming back in 2019 in a friendly against Brazil.
