Super Eagles vice-captain Willian Troost-Ekong has extended his contract with Italian side Udinese until the summer of 2023 the club announced on Twitter on Wednesday.
Troost-Ekong, 26, joined Udinese from Turkish side Bursaspor in 2018 and quickly became a defensive mainstay as he played 35 times in the league as the club mounted a late revival to finish in twelfth place in his debut season.
Udinese manager Pierpaolo Marino described the player as having “great value” and said the extension sends an important message about the clubs ambitions.
“[The extension] of William is an important renewal because he is a player of great value and charismatic for the locker room. It is an important message that shows how the players are doing well here in Udine,” Marino said.
Troost-Ekong has made nine appearances in Serie A this season for Udinese who currently occupy 11th position on the league table and has been named once in Serie A team of the week.
The defender who has scored two goals in 39 appearances for Nigeria, was an integral part of the Super Eagles squad which finished in third place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt scoring a goal against South Africa in the quarterfinals.
He recently spoke about his targets for the season telling busybuddiesng.com that he hopes to achieve a higher league position than last season’s twelfth place.
He is expected to feature for Udinese when they welcome SPAL to the Stadio Friuli this weekend before joining up with the Super Eagles for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers against the Benin Republic and Lesotho.
