Maduka Okoye Leaves Watford For Udinese

Out-of-favour Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has left English  Championship side Watford for Serie A club Udinese on a four-year deal.

This move will unite Maduka Okoye with fellow Nigerian players Isaac Success and Kingsley Ehizibue at the DACIA Arena this season.

The goalkeeper joined Udinese after failing to establish himself as a first-choice goalkeeper at Watford.

The Championship side confirmed via their official website and social media page that Maduka Okoye has completed a permanent switch to Udinese.

The 23-year-old Nigerian goalkeeper moved from Eredivisie team Sparta Rotterdam to Watford in the 2022 summer after originally signing with the English team in January 2022.

The Super Eagles goalkeeper made a name for himself when he was at Sparta, but in England, where he only made two appearances in the 2022–2023 season—one in the FA Cup and one in the Carabao Cup—he struggled miserably.

He lost his spot in the Super Eagles of Nigeria due to a lack of playing time at the club level, and Hapoel Jerusalem’s Adebayo Adeleye took his place as the squad’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Things got so bad for Maduka Okoye that Watford dropped him off the club’s 2023-2024 squad. But their sister club Udinese stepped in to save his football career.

He will now compete with Marco Silvestri and the rookie goalkeeper Edoardo Piana for a spot in Udinese’s starting XI this season.