Ifeanyi Ndukwe earned widespread praise for his latest performance for Levante, where he’s spending this season on loan from Liverpool.
The 18-year-old was a standout performer for the Reds in pre-season but didn’t meet the criteria for a UK permit, hence the decision to send him to Spain for this campaign. He has since become eligible to play competitively in England.
The Austrian centre-back recently scored his first goal in senior football with a 100th-minute equaliser against Sevilla in a crazy 3-3 draw earlier this month, and he played the full match as his side beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in their latest LaLiga outing on Wednesday night.
Spanish media praise Ndukwe after Levante win
Ndukwe’s performance in that match came in for plenty of praise from Spanish media, with Plaza Deportiva hailing a ‘solid’ outing in awarding him a rating of 6.5 out of 10.
For AS, Javi Teruel wrote that the teenager ‘contributed a lot defensively and formed a great partnership’ with centre-back partner Aissa Mandi as he ‘controlled Athletic’s attackers’.
Superdeporte writer Rafa Esteve did note a careless backpass which almost cost Levante, but also acknowledged that the defender ‘cleared everything that entered his zone’, with the exciting conclusion that ‘If he continues like this, he will establish himself as one of the world’s top centre-backs for the future.’
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Ndukwe starting to establish himself at Levante
Ndukwe has needed strength of character to overcome a costly error he made in the aforementioned draw against Sevilla, but the reviews from his performance last night suggest that he’s firmly put that behind him and is now prospering for Levante.
He’s started the last three matches for his side and, as the figures below from Sofascore indicate, he doesn’t look like losing his place in the line-up any time soon.
The whole point of sending players on loan is that they’ll gain experience they probably wouldn’t have had at their parent club, and now that the Austrian seems to be establishing himself in Levante’s starting XI, his move to Spain could yet have the desired effect for Liverpool.
The long-term goal for Ndukwe will obviously be to carve out a long and prosperous career at Anfield, and if Virgil van Dijk were to depart at the end of his contract next year, a centre-back berth would be up for grabs in Andoni Iraola’s side.
For now, the teenager just needs to keep doing his best for Los Azulgranas and build on the promise he’s showing in recent weeks.