Teenage goal machine Excell Agada was left in tears after his father torpedoed a Swedish opportunity in a desperate bid to stop “predatory” agents!
Off the surface it looks like a case of a blocked future but upon close inspection, it appears to be rather a case of a determined father protecting the interest of his young gifted son.
Just over a year ago 17 year old striking sensation Excell Agada returned to Nigeria holding a golden ticket, a proposed professional contract from a Swedish club. But instead of a hero’s welcome and champagne corks popping, the young prodigy was met with a wall of cold, hard steel from his father.
Excell’s father, a respected barrister flatly refused to sign the proposed paperwork from the agency that brought the deal, effectively killing the deal dead in its tracks.
The drama began when the tower tall striker, hungry for a breakthrough at the tender age of 16 was approached by some european agents. His father a stern disciplinarian had vowed that the player must finish secondary school in Nigeria, before thinking of travelling abroad for football.
The naive striker will later be manipulated by agents who used the influence of a close relative to lure him in, despite his father’s strict orders and the deliberate withholding of his international passport, Excell, with the assistance of his relative travelled out of Nigeria.
Using back channels they managed to obtain travel documents and took the player to travel various Scandinavians countries to put his skills on display for European scouts.
“They went behind my back,” his father told our reporters, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and protective love. “I withheld his passport because I wanted him to focus on his studies and to cement basic education, before travelling anywhere. He was not even old enough to make his own decisions but they took him from under my nose without a shred of consent as if he was a commodity”.
When Excell returned home, dazzled by the prospect of European football and holding a lucrative contract offer, he expected his father to be proud and overjoyed. Instead, the barrister met the news with an absolute, uncompromising “NO.”
Even when the agents dangled significant sums of money in front of the family, an offer that could have changed their circumstances, the father maintained his steadfast resolve.
“Money does not buy everything,” the father said. “If these agents can whisk my son away without my knowledge and permission, what kind of people are they? I do not trust them. I will not have my son tied to individuals who operate in the shadows. He is a kid, not a pawn.”
The agents involved were said to have left reeling from the rejection, but the senior Agada remains unmoved. He issued a chilling ultimatum to his son, Cut all ties with them immediately, finish your secondary education and wait for the right time and opportunity.
For now, the prodigy is back to square one, left to ply his trade on the rough pitches of Nigeria while the initially proposed deal gathers dust in a drawer somewhere. There are rumours currently flying around that another Swedish club is now showing interest in the striker.
It remains to be seen if this was a case of a father saving his naive son from the ruthless underbelly of football, or if it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been missed? One thing is certain, Excel Agada’s path to stardom hit a massive, family sized roadblock and time will tell if another opportunity will materialize.
