Six teams are in real danger of getting relegated from the English Premier League, and four of these clubs have Nigerian internationals in their squads.
Indeed, all the three clubs in the relegation zone and the one directly above them have at least one Super Eagles star playing for them.
The players involved are not always in situations like this, every one of them having been at a club challenging for honours at one point or the other…
TAIWO AWONIYI (Nottingham Forest, 17th): The gangly striker was the main man at Mainz in the Bundesliga last season, scoring 15 goals in the German top flight in 31 appearances.
Awoniyi was Mainz’s top scorer as they finished comfortably in the eighth position, and the club battled hard to keep him.
He followed his dream of returning to England and joined Nottingham Forest for a club record transfer fee of £17m in August.
Since the move, both Awoniyi and Forest have struggled among the English elite: he has scored only four goals in 21 Premier League appearances while the club are fourth from bottom hanging on for dear life.
Awoniyi has tasted success before, winning the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup with Nigeria and being on the books of one of England’s most decorated clubs Liverpool.
EMMANUEL DENNIS (Nottingham Forest, 17th): Like his Super Eagles teammate Awoniyi, Dennis is with Forest.
The 25-year-old joined the club from Watford after the Hornets’ relegation from the Premier League last season, but before moving to England things were much rosier for Dennis.
He was a star with Club Brugge, winning the Belgian Pro League title twice with them and featuring regularly in the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.
Dennis famously scored twice against Real Madrid in a 2-2 Champions League draw at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning the admiration of the Real supporters in the hallowed ground and football fans from all over the world watching on television.
The forward also scored against Manchester United in the Europa League but these days European football is like an unattainable dream as he struggles for survival at Nottingham Forest, with whom he has a contract until 2026 after joining them for €15m last August.
JOE ARIBO (Southampton, 20th): The Super Eagles midfielder has gone from scoring for Rangers in the final of the UEFA Europa League in 2022 to not getting a game for Premier League’s bottom side Southampton.
He was a cult hero at Ibrox with the Scottish giants, helping them win their first Premiership title in 10 years in 2021 as well as the Scottish Cup the following year.
Aribo was also pivotal in Rangers’ run to the Europa League final last year, playing 17 games in the competition and filling in at centre forward to score their only goal in the final against eventual winners on penalties Eintracht Frankfurt.
In all competitions last season at Rangers, Aribo played 57 games but he has hardly had a look-in at struggling Southampton.
It has been all downhill on a personal level since. He has made 20 appearances for the Saints, 12 of them from the start.
Aribo has been almost completely frozen out by Ruben Selles since the Spaniard took charge, featuring in only two of their last 16 Premier League matches, both times as a late substitute.
He has also been left out of the matchday squad in eight of Southampton’s last 12 matches, including the 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday.
PAUL ONUACHU (Southampton, 20th): The towering striker was a king in Belgium but has had to scrounge like a pauper in England, in terms of playing time and goals.
Before his switch to Southampton in January, Onuachu was the top scorer in the Belgian Pro League with 16 goals for Genk but he has not scored any in nine appearances for the Saints.
The 28-year-old Super Eagles striker was hugely successful before his ill-fated move to England.
He won the Danish Superliga with FC Midtjylland in 2015 and 2018 as well as the Super Cup in 2019 before joining Genk, with whom he won the Belgian Cup in 2021.
Onuachu scooped a slew of personal honours in Belgium in 2021, including the top flight highest goal scorer award, Footballer of the Year and the Ebony Boot for the best player of African descent.
In England, he has failed to score in nine Premier League appearances, has not started a game since February and was left out of the last two matchday squads by the Saints who appear destined for the drop.
ALEX IWOBI (Everton, 19th): The midfielder surely did not expect a relegation battle down the line when he left Arsenal for Everton in 2019.
When with the Gunners, Iwobi played under the great Arsene Wenger and won the FA Cup in 2017 and the Community Shield the same year.
He was also in the Arsenal squad that reached the Europa League final in 2018, where they lost to Chelsea.
Instead of those highs, Iwobi is now used to the lows of staving off relegation at Everton.
He joined the Toffees for a princely €30m but they have not finished above 10th in the Premier League since.
They finished 12th in the 2019/2020 season, 10th in 2020/2021 and battled relegation until the final week of last season before ending up in the 16th spot, four points above the drop zone.
Unlike some of his fellow Super Eagles stars, Iwobi has no problem with playing time as he has started in all of Everton’s Premier League games this season, but relegation to the unglamorous Championship is a real possibility.
KELECHI IHEANACHO (Leicester City, 18th): Like Iwobi, Iheanacho was also used to life at a big English club that regularly challenged for honours.
The forward made his breakthrough at Manchester City after helping Nigeria win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013, and was a Carabao Cup medallist with the club in 2016.
He also had a full season under the ultra-successful Pep Guardiola before making the switch to Leicester City in the summer of 2017.
Iheanacho’s time with the Foxes has not always been this torrid, as he featured in the Europa League with them and scored crucial goals on their way to winning the FA Cup in 2021.
But this year has been a massive struggle, with the Super Eagles star battling on two fronts: personal playing time and the club’s real relegation threat.
He has made 16 appearances in the Premier League this season but a whopping 17 of them have been as a substitute.
Even then ‘Seniorman’ has tried his best to save them from falling into the Championship abyss with five goals and four assists.
WILFRED NDIDI (Leicester City, 18th): The Super Eagles midfielder has experienced some great times at Leicester City and even before joining them in January 2017.
He was one of the most sought-after young players in Europe when he made the switch from Genk to Leicester City and he won the FA Cup and Community Shield with the Foxes in 2021.
Until recently, the 26-year-old was a super regular for club and country in the holding midfielder role but he is no longer guaranteed a spot in the starting line-up for the Foxes as they desperately cling on to their Premier League status.
He has made 23 appearances in the Premier League this season, nine off the bench, but was an unused substitute in the 1-1 at Leeds last week for the Foxes, who are one point from safety with five rounds of games to go.
