Sam Adekugbe
Image by: Paul Hazlewood
PUBLISHED
06:00 8th December 2015
by James Hilsum
A lot of players’ wishes are to play in England because for me it’s the home of football. "
Sam Adekugbe
Vancouver Whitecaps young prospect Sam Adekugbe admits that his long-term ambition is to play in England, with the defender currently training at Brighton & Hove Albion during the Major League Soccer off season.Sam Adekugbe
Last year, the 20-year-old London-born defender spent time training with the likes of Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers during last year’s off season and says he's relishing spell with Albion ahead of his return to Canada to begin pre-season training in the New Year.He said, “A lot of players’ wishes are to play in England because for me it’s the home of football. It’s great to see what the standard is like and to bring that back to Vancouver to know what I need to do to improve.
“Lots of players want to end up playing in England at some point.*
“There’s a connection between the clubs due to Paul Barber and Paul Mullen. The agreement of the move was more about me* training with the side rather than a trial.
“I’m enjoying it here. The first-team guys have been great and there are a lot of players that I like. They are friendly and I get on with them well. The under-21s are very good and everything here is very professional. It’s good to see what the under-21s are like, as well as the first team.”*
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The defender is a keen admirer of Albion’s style of play and feels it challenges the common perception of England’s second tier in North America.“In America what is generally thought about the Championship is that it’s a counter-attacking game, with the play going back and forth.
“Then you watch a team like Brighton, who keep the ball and I could watch them play for days because of the way they keep the ball. It was actually a wake-up call for me to realise what the Championship is actually known for.
“You can see that Brighton are a good team and why they want to go up.”
Canadian international Adekugbe, who lived in London and Manchester before moving to Canada when he was eleven, has already featured against some of the biggest names in the sport and says that can only benefit him as a footballer and the MLS to improve as a league.
“I played against Kaka in Orlando; he’s a very good player, I’ve also played against Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins and Jermain Defoe.
“There are a lot of good players who have also played in Europe like Clint Dempsey, who is back here now. You can see they have a lot of quality, but the good thing is that they’re coming to the league and doing well. It’s good for the younger players to play against those who have been there and done it.
“I was on the bench when New York came to Vancouver and I got to watch Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa. They have won everything and you can see the quality they have. It’s nice to see from the bench what you are aspiring to be like.”
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Original article