With the return of club football comes the need for sweeping, hasty verdicts. For the avid fan of the Super Eagles, the above headline might read like blasphemy, but best believe there is plenty of justification for it.
Christantus Uche’s rise to prominence has been sudden and meteoric. Signed by Getafe at the start of the 2024/25 campaign from the third tier of Spanish football, not a lot was known of him besides the fact that he was a hard-running, long-limbed defensive midfielder. Within the context of Nigerian football, he is not even the most famous Christantus/Christantus. (Spellings of his first name vary, so beg pardon.)
With a paucity of options in attack at the start of that season, Getafe boss Jose Bordalas was forced to play the young Nigerian in attack. What followed was a remarkable debut campaign in top-flight football as Uche excelled, scoring four goals and getting six assists while excelling in a number of attacking positions.
By the end of the campaign, he made his Super Eagles debut as well, coming on as a substitute against Jamaica in the Unity Cup before starting Nigeria’s friendly against Russia in June.
What kind of player is Christantus Uche?
Going by his inspired, 2 G+A performance over the weekend as Getafe got off to a winning start in the new season against Celta Vigo, any notion of him as a defensive midfielder has been firmly dispelled. He’s a forward now, fully fledged.
Within Bordalas’ muscular football, Uche functions essentially as both battering ram and outlet. Standing at 190cm, the 22-year-old possesses a strong leap, which makes him dangerous in the air and useful for flick-ons. He is also, with his stride and boundless energy, able to not only run the channels and hold up against contact, but join his side’s defensive efforts as necessary.
In case anyone worries he is all brawn, however, he can play quite a bit too.
How does Christantus Uche compare to Super Eagles legend Daniel Amokachi?
Broadly speaking, there are three distinct ways in which Uche recalls the man who came to be known as ‘Da Bull’. Call them the three Ps, if you will.
Position
Amokachi excelled for the Super Eagles, not by playing as the main striker, but by functioning as a supporting act. Dropping off the front, the former Besiktas and Everton man would pop up in different zones, affording the Super Eagles positional overloads as required, whether out wide or in midfield. He was the connector who allowed Rashidi Yekini to focus on stretching defences vertically and scoring.
It is exactly this hybrid second striker/quasi no.10 role that Uche is excelling at, even showing a good sprinkling of flair as necessary.
Physicality
A huge part of Amokachi’s game was his sheer physicality. He was built like a brick outhouse, able to hold off defenders and, if need be, send them flying. He also boasted a tremendous work rate, a fact that may have contributed to his injury struggles.
See also: Uche, with about 10cm of height added for extra menace in the air.
Personality
If there is one thing that has come through already in his brief career at the highest level, it is that Uche has an alpha personality. He may be young, but he backs himself to perform regardless of the platform or opponent.
It may seem a small thing, but not many would have volunteered to take the decisive penalty in a shootout for their country on their international debut. It was a friendly tournament, but the point still stands.
This harkens back to Amokachi: ‘Da Bull’ may have primarily been a reference to his physical gifts, but his personality was boisterous and extroverted as well.
Uche of course has some way to go before he can be compared to Amokachi based on on-field achievement. However, stylistically and in terms of what they could offer, especially to the Super Eagles, the parallels are there to see.
