Leicester City of England ever-busy midfielder, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi has been ranked as the world’s 79th most valuable player, based on current earnings and future prospects with his club.
The former English Premier League champions did not fare on high ground for this past season but Ndidi, who copped a hamstring injury towards the end of the past campaign, is standing out among The Foxes.
Such it is that the former Racing Genk of Belgium is Africa’s second most valuable player on current ratings, behind Mohammed Salah, and second of Nigerian decent, behind Dele Alli.
Ndidi is, therefore, in the 100 Most Valuable Players list, as compiled by International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory.
In the list, Ndidi is placed at number 79 and valued at £62.7m, while Tottenham Hotspur striker, Harry Kane is number one at £201.2m.
Number two is Brazil’s Paris Saint-Germain star, Neymar at £195.7m and France youth star, Kylian Mbappe is in third position at £186.5m.
In number four is Argentina and Barcelona star Lionel Messi with £184.2m, while Salah is placed at number five at £171.3m.
The next spots belong to Alli (£171.0m), Kevin De Bruyne (£167.2m), Antoine Greizmann (£164.5 m), Paulo Dybala (£164.2 m) and Romelu Lukaku (£163.4m), but Real Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo is at number 24 on £103.4m.
Heading into the World Cup, Ndidi has made a full recovery from the injury that restricted him from taking part in training and friendly matches of the Super Eagles.
He returned to full training on Monday and was among the top five players in Monday’s session which involved technical and tactical drills.
Ndidi showed no sign of the player who ended the season injured as he was his usual hardworking self, making tackles, winning balls and also initiating attacks during the training session.
