Mikel Agu

Mikel Ndubusi Agu (born 27 May 1993) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães.

Mikel Agu
Personal information
Full name Mikel Ndubusi Agu
Date of birth (1993-05-27) 27 May 1993
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Vitória de Guimarães
Number 24
Youth career
2011–2012 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Porto B 69 (2)
2014–2019 Porto 2 (0)
2015–2016 → Club Brugge (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2017 → Vitória de Setúbal (loan) 27 (0)
2017–2018 → Bursaspor (loan) 23 (2)
2018–2019 → Vitória de Setúbal (loan) 18 (1)
2019– Vitória de Guimarães 8 (2)
National team‡
2017– Nigeria 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:19, 4 November 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 January 2020

Club career

Early career

Mikel Agu started his career with grassroots team Megapp FC in Nigeria. He took part in the 2009 Copa Coca-Cola, where he was chosen as the best player of the tournament, attracting the interest of scouts.[1] After the tournament, Agu joined the youth academy of Porto.

Porto

Agu was first signed under the Porto-U 19 setup training with the senior team with the occasional bench appearance. His development would see him play 2 seasons for Porto B before eventually getting an opportunity to play for the first team. Agu made his debut against Gil Vicente in a 2-1 win coming as a substitute for Josué. Doing so, he became the first Nigerian to play for the club.[2] Following his wonderful performance in Porto B, the then manager Paulo Fonseca promoted him to the main team.[3] He would then be sent on loan to gain experience playing in the first division.

Porto B

Seeking playing opportunities at Porto, Agu was deployed mostly in the Porto B team, with whom he made 69 league appearances between 2012 and 2016. He completed over 30 appearances in each of the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons.

Club Brugge (loan)

At the start of 2015/2016 season, after making one appearance for Porto B, he went on loan to Club Brugge in the Belgian Jupiler league.[1] He made just two league appearances as Brugge finished the season as league champions.

Vitoria Setubal (loan)

Agu was loaned back to the Portuguese league for the 2016-2017 season, which served somewhat as a breakout season for him. He made 27 league appearances, starting 25 times; and 34 total appearances in all competitions for Vitória Setúbal He played a part as they made a run to the semi-final in the Taça da Liga. His much improved game-play ensured that he was finally recognized as a top player within his own right. His performances were also noticed by his country's national team, leading to a call-up in 2017. This decision was made that he would be recalled to the Porto first team at the end of the season.

Bursaspor (loan)

In August 2017 Agu joined Turkish side Bursaspor on a season-long loan deal.[4]

International career

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5] Agu made his senior debut for Nigeria in a 3-0 friendly win over Togo on 1 June 2017.[6]

In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[7] However, he did not make the final 23.[8]

Style of Play

Agu's style of play can be likened to former Chelsea player John Obi Mikel. He received the nickname "Mikel" from fans in Benin City, where he grew up, due to similarities in movement and overall play.[1] He has an excellent close-control and has shown a very good passing range, complementing this with the vision to play long balls from the back. On occasion, he has shown the ability to control the tempo of the game. Defensively, he shows good anticipation and does not rush into his tackles, positioning himself just in front of the back four.

Honours

Club
Club Brugge

Individual
  • Tournament MVP Copa Coca-Cola, 2009

References
  1. "Agu Scouted".
  2. "Another Mikel explodes: Nigerian star Mikel Agu receives praise for historic FC Porto debut". Newsexpress. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. "Mikel Agu Promoted To Porto First Team". Soccerladuma. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  4. https://www.goal.com/en-ng/amp/news/official-mikel-agu-joins-bursaspor-on-loan/a1nd7ft72vlm19a7i5sur4yvm
  5. Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. "Internationals (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
  7. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/amp/news/revealed-every-world-cup-2018-squad-23-man-preliminary-lists/oa0atsduflsv1nsf6oqk576rb
  8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/44346451
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