SAM ALLARDYCE FINALLY REVEALS HOW HE SIGNED NIGERIAN STAR OKOCHA FOR BOLTON WANDERERS
Twenty years after signing him for Bolton Wanderers who were then campaigning in the Premier League, Sam Allardyce has explained that it was great to have Jay-Jay Okocha in his squad.
Former Super Eagles captain Austin Jay-Jay Okocha landed at Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2002 after leaving French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 1998, Jay-Jay Okocha had stint in Germany and Turkey and was loved by fans because of his dribbling styles of football.
Okocha’s superb games made Sam Allardyce to go for his signature, but things did not initially work out until after the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.
According to the report on Manchester Evening, Sam Allardyce explained that he flew to France to first discuss with Okocha over a move to the Premier League.
“We flew out to Paris before the World Cup. We never really got any real response in that meeting, but to our surprise after the World Cup, and after a long conversation, we went back out there and struck a deal in Charles de Gaulle airport. “He wanted to broaden his experience in football — and in culture, if you like. He’d experienced the German way, then Turkey, then France then he wanted to come to England.”
Sam Allardyce’s statement about Okocha
