Newly signed West Ham United of England defender, Nigerian-born Angelo Ogbonna, has declared that his move to the English Premier League was actually a life-long dream come true in his football career despite playing for top clubs like Torino and Juventus in the highly competitive Italian Serie A league. The 27-year-old soccer star now plays national team football for Italy.
He was born to Nigerian parents who moved to Italy from Nigeria in 1983. The family settled in the city of Cassino in the central part of the country. Ogbonna remained a Nigerian domiciled in Italy until he managed to obtain Italian citizenship after his 18th birthday.
He made his name as a talented defender with Torino before joining their city rivals Juventus in 2013, winning two Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia during his time there.
The star defender who has recorded 10 caps for Italy caps said he was delighted to have joined the English Premiership club. “I wanted to play in the Premier League and I am happy to be in London. My heart told me that the right decision was to play for West Ham United.
I cannot wait to start working under Mr. Bilic and with my new team-mates. I feel ready for this new adventure.” The deal at West Ham is worth €11 million and this would be spread over the next three financial years.
Known for his outstanding physical attributes, he is capable of playing as a leftback on occasion, due to his pace, technique, ball skills, vision, and distribution with his left foot. Angelo Obinze Ogbonna was born May 23, 1988. He began his football career in a youth team of Cassino, where he played as central defender.
In 2002 he was noticed by Torino, which bought him for €3,000 and aggregated him to their youth team. In the 2006-07 season he was regularly called to the first team and on February 11 2007 he made his debut in Serie A at age 18, against Reggina, as a starter under the coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
At an international level he was a member of the Italy side which finished runners-up at the 2012 UEFA European Championship. He graduated to the senior level after stint with the Italian Under-21 with his first game on August 12, 2009 in a friendly game against Russia.
The defender played 31 times for Juventus last season but now joins West Ham on a four-year deal. He made his Champions League debut in on September 17, 2013, against F.C. Copenhagen. Ogbonna played 16 league games for Juventus in season 2013-14 as they won Serie A.
He was also a member of the side which won the 2013 Supercoppa Italiana. In season 2014-15 they again won the title with Ogbonna playing 25 league games, and the 2014-15 Coppa Italia. In June 2015 he was an unused substitute as Juventus lost the Champions League Final to Barcelona in Berlin
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