Wilfred Ndidi has been left stunned after Besiktas sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer just weeks after convincing the Super Eagles midfielder to swap Leicester City for Istanbul, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ndidi, who ended his eight-year stay at Leicester earlier this month, had other options on the table, with Everton and La Liga side Real Betis both keen to secure his services.
But it was Solskjaer’s personal interest that proved decisive, luring the Nigerian international to Turkey.
The Norwegian was quick to praise the 27-year-old upon his arrival, saying:
“A couple of words about Wilfred, he has answered well for himself. You can see he is a very professional footballer, a great human being, and he gives us something we haven’t had before.
“I am very pleased to have him here, very pleased to have a leader like him, and I believe he will contribute a lot to the team in the coming months and years.”
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However, Ndidi managed just three appearances under Solskjaer: a 70-minute run in a 2-1 league win over Eyupspor and the two games against Lausanne in the Conference League play-offs.
Besiktas earned a credible 1-1 draw away to Lausanne last week only to fall to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home on Thursday night.
The shock elimination at the hands of the Swiss side proved costly, with Besiktas pulling the trigger just seven months after appointing the former Manchester United manager.
The club said in a statement:
“Our contract with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been terminated following a decision made at a board meeting. Following the meeting, our chairman, Serdal Adalı, thanked Solskjaer for his services to date.”
Solskjaer, 52, had led Besiktas to a fourth-place finish in the Turkish Super Lig last season, but back-to-back European exits against Shakhtar Donetsk and Lausanne have now ended his tenure.
The defeat also carried a distinctly Nigerian subplot. Lausanne’s winning goal came courtesy of 22-year-old Arsenal academy product Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who opened his account for the Swiss club at the perfect moment.
In total, five players of Nigerian descent started the game — Ndidi, Tammy Abraham, and Felix Uduokhai for Besiktas, with Butler-Oyedeji and Bryan Okoh lining up for Lausanne.
Besiktas are already weighing up successors, with former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Nuri Şahin strongly linked with ....
For Ndidi, though, the sudden managerial shake-up leaves him facing an uncertain start to life in Turkey.
Regarded as one of the finest defensive midfielders in the game, Ndidi made 303 appearances for Leicester, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2021.