Super Eagles and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has joined the GG11 Agency, sparking links with a potential move to the Premier League.
The 24-year-old appears to have finally settled in Italy following his move from Watford in August 2023. Okoye’s club career had seen him struggle for game time after his breakout season at Sparta Rotterdam, where he was named the club’s player of the season in the 2020/21 campaign.
While his subsequent move to the Premier League was expected to catapult his career to the next level, Okoye didn’t play much at Watford and the Hornets’ regelation to the Championship further escalated his situation.
Having returned to Sparta Rotterdam on loan last season, the Super Eagles shot-stopper accepted to test himself in the Serie A when Udinese came calling, and he hasn’t done badly at all. He is one of the first names on Gabriele Cioffi’s team sheet and has made 15 appearances in all competitions for Udinese this season.
Could Okoye be the next GG11 Agency player to move to Premier League?
While a change of agents typically doesn’t make the headlines, Okoye’s decision to join the GG11 Agency could be geared towards engineering a return to the Premier League. The Rome-based agency is owned by the Giuffrida brothers, Gabriele and Valerio.
The Giuffrida brothers currently have over 30 players signed to their agency, including AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli, Napoli midfielder Hamed Traore, Atalanta’s Aleksey Miranchuk and Parma’s Hernani Jr.
The agency has also been successful in transferring its clients to the Premier League in recent times, with two of GG11’s players joining English clubs in the last two transfer windows. Guglielmo Vicario was the agency’s first client to secure a move to the English top-flight after swapping FC Empoli for Tottenham Hotspur in August 2023.
Vicario has gone on to become a regular with Spurs under Ange Postecoglu, and is currently one of the highly-rated shot-stoppers in the Premier League. GG11 also negotiated defender Radu Dragusin’s move to Tottenham in January 2024. The former Juventus defender joined Spurs for a fee of €25 million, making him the most expensive Romanian footballer ever after surpassing the €22.5 million Chelsea paid to Verona to sign Adrian Mutu in 2003.
GG11’s recent expansion into England could mean Okoye, who recently joined the agency, may also be angling for a move to the Premier League. The goalkeeper has turned his fortunes around since moving to Italy and could be in line for a return to England after changing his agent.
Okoye currently having a strong season at Udinese
Meanwhile, Okoye has been a standout performer for Udinese in what has been an inconsistent season for the Italian club. Cioffi’s side have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions as they sit just a point above the relegation zone.
However, Okoye has been a rare breath of fresh air, with his impressive performances earning him Udinese's Player of the Month award for February.
He was also in imperious form during last week’s 2-1 loss against Serie A table-toppers Inter Milan, pulling off several saves to keep the scoreline close. Okoye’s displays have led to calls for him to be recalled to the Nigeria national team after more than a year of not playing for the Super Eagles.
The 24-year-old wasn’t part of the squad that represented the country at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024) in Ivory Coast, and was also not invited for the March international friendlies against Ghana and Mali.
The Udinese goalkeeper has however, expressed his readiness to return to the Super Eagles fold but it remains to be seen whether he’ll make the squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June. Should he be recalled, Okoye would still have to battle for the starting slot with Stanley Nwabali, who cemented his position as Nigeria’s number one during the AFCON.
