Super Eagles’ midfielder, Mikel Ndubusi Aguhas revealed how much he coveted the exotic automobile, Range Rover. Last year, the Range Rover – the luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV)-topped the list of racy automobiles purchased by footballers with the others being Lamborghini Aventador, Mercedes-Benz Onyx G6 GLE Coupe,Bentley Continental GT,Ferrari F12 Berlinetta,Lamborghini Huracan,Jeep Wrangler Kahn Sahara;Porsche 911 GTS;Bentley Bentayga and McLaren 675LT Spider.
Indeed, top-notch automobiles have always being the dream of every dream footballer and Agu is now basking in the joy of owning a luxurious SUV-the Range Rover Spy.
“I used to dream of having a Range Rover but I have one now, “the 24-year-old Agu , a loanee from FC Porto to Turkish Superliga side, Bursaspor told The Nation.
“There is no big reason about having a Range Rover but it just happened to be my best choice.”
Born and raised in one of Nigeria’s football capital cities (precisely Benin City in Edo State), Agu reportedly started his career with grassroots team Megapp FC –the club that produced the likes of Victor Moses of Chelsea; Elderson Echiejile of Cercle Brugge amongst others.
He caught the attention of scouts after he impressed during the 2009 Copa Coca-Cola where he was picked as the best player of the tournament. It was after the tournament that he joined the youth academy of Portuguese famous club, FC Porto to kick start his adventure in Europe.
After impressing with the Porto U-19 where he played for two seasons, he was drafted into the main squad and was handed his senior team debut against Gil Vicente in a 2-1 win when he came on as a substitute for Josué.
But he was later sent back to Porto Team B with whom he made 69 league appearances between 2012 and 2016. He completed over 30 appearances in each of the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons. At the start of 2015/2016 season, after making one appearance for Porto B, he went on loan to Club Brugge in the Belgian Jupiler league where he made just two league appearances as Club Brugge finished the season as league champions.
Back on loan to Portugal for the 2016-2017 season, Agu turned to overnight sensation as he made an impressive 27 league appearances and 34 total appearances in all competitions for Vitória Setúbal and helped the club to the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga. He was several named in the Team of the Week in Portugal to underline his arrival on the big stage and deservedly earned a long awaited call up into the Super Eagles. He eventually made his senior international debut for Nigeria in a 3-0 friendly win over Togo on June 1, 2017.
But last August 2017 Agu joined Turkish side Bursaspor on a season-long loan deal and he shares his yoyo experience from Belgium to Turkey
“ I would say Belgium was my real take off point in Europe but I had a very bad experience because of politics and I played only three official games after coming back from injury,” admitted Agu in an interview with our correspondent. “I decided to stay back in Portugal in the following season and look for a lower level team (Vitoria Setubal) to get playing time because I had many injury setbacks.
“ I choose to play in Setubal which was the team of late Rashid Yekini; there I played a lot and had a very good season which got me opportunity to the national team.
“It was good playing in the same club that had the great Rashid Yekinibecause he made it big in Setubal and the whole city knew about him big time. His pictures were all over the stadium and playing at a club where they got respect for a fellow Nigerian made sense; it was a good decision I made.
“Everyone was always talking good about him(Yekini) ; one day at the shopping mall, a guy told me that most times he doesn’t even pay to get things from shops. According to him, he was getting them for free because everyone loved him in the city. So, it was really good feeling playing at Setubal.
“Here in turkey, it has been very good and has played games before I got injured and was out for two months and that was the injury that ruled me off from the game against Algeria.
“So far I have enjoyed my stay here in Turkey and the conditions here in terms of finance is very good,” he explained.
Indeed Turkey has been a delight for Agu following the arrival of his first baby from his wife with who, he had an octane wedding ceremony in Asaba last year.
Like you know, we (men) try as much possible to make it (wedding ceremony)special occasion for our women,” explained Agu.“ It’s once in a life time and most time, it’s the women that loves it big.
“My wife (Henrietta Omoriege Ogochukwu) is from Delta state and we met her during one of my holidays to Nigeria; her beauty of course first attracted me to her.
“At first, one can’t just conclude she’s the special one and that is why it’s always good to spend time together since it helps both partners to understand themselves well.
“We’ve had good and bad moments and then learnt from all that happened and today, we are perfect together.”
The bond between Agu and Henrietta has been blessed with a baby son which he describes as the centre of his world: “The feeling (of being blessed with a child) is hard to explain and only people who already had one can exactly tell how it feels. If you got already, you will know what I’m talking about. I experienced it all on that day and was there with my wife when he (my son) came.
“His name is Stefano; I have always liked the name but his traditional name is Chukwukaima and it means: God will answer your prayer,” noted Agu as he speaks on other sundry issues.
You were nicknamed Mikel after John Mikel Obi, how do you feel playing in the same team with the Super Eagles captain?
It feels very good to be playing in same team with John Mikel Obi and for me, it was a dream come true. Mikel has been my mentor since after he played in the Under-20 World Cup and then made a big move to Chelsea.
You have had the opportunity of coming on as substitute for him in few matches, what encouragement has he given you?
Normally this has helped to make me more known in the team,substituting the captain of the team and also one of the biggest elements of the squad worldwide; this opportunity has really motivate me to work more and the expectation will always be big.
What inspiration did that give you?
To work hard and also keep a good mark there in the club and for the city also
How did you make your breakthrough in football?
Long journey and I can’t explain everythinghere. I played my youth football in Benin City, Edo state and luckilywas scouted in a tournament in Owerri. I was scouted and made my move to FC Porto
What kind of player is Mikel Aguand what makes you happy as a person?
Good with area balls and also goodwith using the ball. I’m also aggressive but my style depends on what coachneeds because every coach is with different tactics.The thing that makes me happy is my family (son and wife) andtheyare always here with me
Have you decided with your wife the number of children you are going to have?
Yes, we’ve planned for just two
What has been your best moments playing for the Super Eagles?
For me, my best moment so far was when we qualified for the World Cup Russia 2018 after our victory against Zambia in Uyo
Russia 2018 World Cup is around the corner, what are your personal objectives?
My personal objective is to give my best for the country if been given the opportunity
What Will be a good World Cup performance for the Super Eagles in Russia?
No one know yet what will be the best performance but we all know the group is a tough one; so every game is very important.
Is playing Croatia, Iceland and Argentina a difficult assignment?
For sure, all these countries in the group are all difficult games. We know that we have the best teams at the World Cup. Imagine how many countries we have in the world but only 32 countries made it,so you can see there won’t be any pushovers.
What are your plans at the end of this season in Turkey?
My plan after the end of season is to represent the country at the World Cup in Russia.
What’s your definition of fashion and what kind of dressing you don’t like?
I like corporate dressing
What would you have done if not being a professional footballer?
To become an engineer; a mechanical engineer but most time you don’t know what I would have been doing right now, sometimes life gives you what you never wished for.
