Jay-Jay Okocha reveals Bolton’s move lacks proper research

Nigeria football legend Austin Jay Jay Okocha has revealed that his move to Bolton Wanderers in 2002 was not a well-thought-out one.

The 49-year-old star is regarded as one of the greatest exports from Africa, being regarded as one of the greatest dribblers of all time and renowned for his mesmerizing displays on the pitch.

Okocha impressed then Bolton coach Sam Allardyce with his display for Nigeria at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, although Nigeria failed to make it out of a group that had England, Sweden, and Argentina, but Big Sam was convinced enough with by the excellent form of Okocha.

However, looking back on his career, Okocha feels he did not do his research properly before he decided to switch the Ligue 1 side for the Reebok Stadium.

“I will say that it’s obvious that I didn’t really do my research before signing for Bolton,” The ex-PSG star told talkSPORT Breakfast.

“As a football person, football comes first, not the city, not the lifestyle, but one thing that’s clear is that the training ground was different, the attitude towards the games was different.

“It took me a while to really understand what Sam’s philosophy was, but once I understood it, it was a bit easier then.

“After a while I realized that it’s not really that kind of long ball person, but it was all he had then, the players that he had then he can only play direct football with them because they haven’t got the ability to out-possess the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea or Man United, so he was playing to his strengths.

“But then when we came in and when he started bringing players with better quality in his squad, we started playing a bit more possession football.”