Chidera Ejuke: CSKA Moscow's Nigerian Winger

2019/20 was Chidera Ejuke's breakout season in European football, Heerenveen paid €2 million to sign him from Norwegian giants Vålerenga in what turned out to be a profitable deal for all involved. The Nigerian winger quickly established himself as Heerenveen's best player, his impressive performances backed up with his 10 goals and 6 assists in all competitions put Chidera on the radar of bigger European clubs.

He joined CSKA Moscow in the summer transfer window for €11.5 million after a one-and-done in the Netherlands, and many expected Russia to be the next step in Ejuke's development but that hasn't quite happened so far. He's been playing well for CSKA, pretty much a guaranteed starter now but it's still underwhelming. Perhaps adjusting to a new league and country played a part, but a player of his quality should have more than 3 goals and 2 assists in 29 games so far.

Ejuke is a gifted footballer, a winger blessed with flair, pace and dribbling ability, whocan terrorise any full-back in the world on his day. The issue is, "his day" doesn't come very frequently, some times he's a world-beater with genuine world-class potential, other times he's a pedestrian letting the game just go by him without really having any impact.

The 23-year-old is plagued with inconsistency. He last scored in consecutive matches in July 2019 for Vålerenga; 2 straight games on the scoresheet is the best streak he's managed so far and even that has only happened 3 separate times in his career. That was acceptable early in his career but not anymore, now 23 years old at the start of a 4-year deal in Moscow, Chidera must add end product to his game if he intends to attract attention from the top 5 leagues.