Chelsea starlet Lesley Ugochukwu chooses Nigeria duo as role models

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

19-year-old Chelsea midfielder, Lesley Ugochukwu has revealed his role models growing up.

The former Rennes star admits that former Nigeria stars, Austin Jay Jay Okocha and Obi Mikel are his mentors.

“Most of the time when I saw him on television was the period with (Jose) Mourinho,” Ugochukwu in a chat with Chelseafc.com, where he recounted how he watched Okocha and Mikel on television.

“It was a great period. He was such an important player for Chelsea. And when you come from Nigeria, the names of Jay-Jay Okocha and Obi-Mikel always come out.

“As a midfielder, what Mikel did for Chelsea inspired me a lot. He was calm. He had composure. He had self-confidence. That’s very important for a midfielder, to give confidence to your team. He was strong without the ball, aggressive. That’s the kind of player I like. I want to have great achievements like he did.”

“Chelsea is a big club, one of the best in the world, so I was expecting to come here with a lot of training pitches, and a good environment in the stadium. That’s what I have been seeing. The crowd is nice, the Chelsea fans are always behind us. The training ground is massive.”

Ugochukwu joined the London side from French team, Rennes this season and has played nine games in the English Premier League.

The youngster scored a goal and provided an assist for the French side in his three seasons at the club.

Internationally, he is eligible to play for Nigeria and France.