Ndidi wins top tackler award in the English Premier League for the third season running

SUPER Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has emerged as the top tackler in the English Premier League again this season after he was judged to be joint number one along with Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka with both managing to win 129 tackles.

Ndidi, 23, who almost had a perfect season but for the fact that Leicester City failed to qualify for the Uefa Champions League, also came tops with the number of interceptions, making 86 all season. He now becomes the first player to top the Premier tackle charts for three consecutive seasons.

Since his move from Belgian side Genk three seasons ago for £15m fee, Ndidi has been quite exceptional for the Foxes. In his first season, the Super Eagles star topped the tacklers' chart with 138 successes and in the process was named as Leicester City's Young Player of the Year for the 2017/18 season.

Confirming this was not a fluke, Ndidi repeated that feat the following season after amassing 144 tackles ahead of Idrissa Gueye (143) of Everton and Wan-Bissaka (128), then of Crystal Palace.  There is now talk that Ndidi may be priced away from Leicester City by bigger clubs even though he has a contract with the Foxes until 2024.

Ndidi said: “Playing under Brendan Rodgers has changed my game so much after from the fact that I moved from an attacking team to a possession team. When he came, he was trying to make us understand that he will always be there for us and he makes time to meet the players individually and tries to make us understand that there is space in the sky for us to improve.

“Since he came, I have improved as a player because I now understand simple things I never knew. No disrespect to other managers but Brendan took his time to explain things like understanding space, understanding the game, where you can actually be and how you can actually improve on yourself and your quality.”

Over the course of the season, Ndidi featured in 33 Premier League games with two goals to his name for Leicester City. He has become a hu8ge favourite with the Leicester fans and over the weekend when his team lost 0-2 to Manchester United, the Old Trafford faithful were urging manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer to buy Ndidi as a replacement for the ageing Nemanja Matic.