This article is about Maduka Okoye.
Maduka Okoye, a 22-year old Nigerian German footballer, has risen to the spotlight and public recognition in Nigeria. He is currently based in Germany and plays for a football club over there. As a plus, he’s part of the Nigerian eagles’ team and made several appearances in the 2022 AFCON games. Even though he’s young, he has made significant achievements for himself, and it is worth the attention.
If you are keen on learning more about this youngster, Maduka Okoye, stay with me.
Let’s start!
Maduka Okoye Profile
Real Name: Maduka Emilio Okoye
D.O.B: August 28, 1999
Occupations: Footballer, Goalkeeper
Current club: Sparta (Loan from Watford)
Active Years: 2009 till date
National Team: Nigeria
Instagram: Maduka Okoye
Marital Status: Single
Networth: Undisclosed
Maduka Okoye Family
Maduka Okoye was born to a Nigerian dad and an Igbo mom. Reports show that his parents lived in Enugu for a certain period before finally settling in Germany. His parents are also Christians. Hence, it is safe to conclude that Maduka Okoye is a Christian.
Rumours also have it that Maduka Okoye shares a blood relationship with the famous Okoye family in Nigeria. The Okoye family are the trio Musicians, Peter, Paul, and Jude Okoye. Peter and Paul Okoye are singers known as Psquare, while Jude Okoye is their manager and Producer.
It was said that the father of Maduka is a sibling to the father of the P-square Twins. This implies that Maduka Emilio is a direct cousin of the Music trio. This fact is supported by the comments of Paul Okoye in 2017 on the post of Maduka Okoye. This rising goalkeeper made a post on his signing into Sparta Rotterdam. Paul Okoye further posted Maduka’s picture and captioned it, “when your kid bro is making you proud. Congrats @madukaokoye
Early Years of Maduka Okoye
Maduka Okoye’s football Career has started way back. He started playing football in teams from the early age of 10. As early as 2009, he was playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The same year, he also got into Bayer Leverkusen, where he trained and played with the team for 8years. All of this was during his adolescence, and he played for the Junior team or Adolescence team. It didn’t stop there. He got signed into Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2017, and he remained in the junior team till 2018.
Club Career
In October 2017, he made his first professional appearance in a game against Wuppertaler SV. He entered the game at the 43rd minute as a replacement for injured Max Schijns. This first appearance was in the Regionalliga West. In this league, he made a total of 5 appearances, conceded a goal, and maintained a clean sheet. However, the team narrowly escaped relegation, as they finished with 36 points in 34 games, which left them in 5th position.
In 2018, he began to play with the Senior team. At Fortuna Dusseldorf, he made 34 appearances. He played with Fortuna Dusseldorf up until 2020. In the 2018/2019 season alone, he made a total of 15 appearances and conceded 25goals. His performance greatly improved, so did his team’s. His team made 42 points in 34 games, 6 points higher than the previous season. They also got the 12th position.
The following season, he played once in August. This match saw his team beat Schalke 04 II, with 2 goals to 1.
In 2020, he was signed into Jong Sparta. At Jong Sparta, he made four appearances. In July 2020, he was signed into Sparta Rotterdam on a free transfer. At Sparta, he played in 28 league games during the 2020/21 season, and he maintained 10 clean sheets. Due to his achievement, he was awarded Sparta’s player of the season. As a plus, his contract was also extended to 2025.
On November 8, 2021, Maduka Okoye joined the premier league team, Watford. The deal was for a 5 and half year period. He joined in January 2022. And he’s on loan from Sparta till the end of 2021/22 campaign.
Read about Top 11 Richest musicians in Nigeria [2021 Net Worth ]
International Career
In 2017, Nigeria’s National Coach, Gernot Rohr, announced his plans to invite Maduka Okoye to play for Nigeria in the world cup. However, he did not move on with his plans.
2years later, a Germany-based Nigerian journalist, Oma Akatugba, interviewed Maduka Okoye. In the interview, Maduka Okoye mentioned that he was ready to wear the Nigeria jersey and play with the team. A few days later, it was February 22, and he got an invite from Nigeria’s U-23 coach, Imama Amakapubo. The coach asked him to play with the Nigerian team at the African U-23 cups of Nation qualifier against Libya. Unfortunately, he made no appearance due to his club engagements.
In May 2019, he was invited again to appear in the ongoing U-23 African Cup of Nations qualifier. The match was slated to hold between the 3rd and 11th of June 2019. However, it was later postponed due to time clashes with AFCON, Egypt. The game was delayed from September 2 to 10.
After Carl Ikeme quit the Nigeria team due to sickness, Gernot Rohr mentioned his interest in Maduka again. He believed Maduka could tackle and stop the goalkeeping issues experienced in the Nigeria National team.
In September 2019, Maduka Okoye played for the Nigerian team in a friendly match against Ukraine in Dnipro Arena. He was invited early in August 2019.
October of the same year, he played internationally. He played against Brazil in a friendly match which ended in a draw of 1-1.
The caretaker coach of Nigeria’s National team, Coach Eguavoen, shortlisted Maduka Okoye as part of the 28-man team for AFCON. He was shortlisted in November 2021, and the game happened in January and February 2022.
Club Information and Appearances
Youth Career
Borussia Mönchengladbach – 2009
Bayer Leverkusen – 2009 – 2017
Fortuna Düsseldorf – 2017 – 2018
Senior Career
Fortuna Düsseldorf – 34 appearances (2018 – 2020)
Jong Sparta – 2 appearances (2020)
Sparta Rotterdam – 45 appearances (2020 – 2022)
Watford – 0 appearance (2022)
Sparta(on loan from Watford) – 0 appearance (2022)
International
Nigeria – over 11 appearances (2019 – present)
Networth and Possessions
There’s no data on his net worth and earnings. You should know that, unlike other football clubs, Sparta Rotterdam does not publish its players’ salaries. Even when Maduka signed a deal with Watford, his price was not revealed. However, we believe that Maduka Okoye has made a significant amount for himself due to his appearances and performances.
Unlike other celebrities in Nigeria, Maduka Okoye reveals little details about his personal life. He has never claimed to own an apartment or vehicle in any of his social posts. Nonetheless, he has been spotted with two different Benz cars. One Mercedes Benz AMG and another Mercedes Benz AMG GLE coupe.
Conclusion
Maduka Okoye is a fast-rising and successful footballer. He started football at a very young age, and he has put in the effort to progress in his chosen career path.