William Troost-Ekong will make his long-awaited debut in the Premier League this weekend, when Watford go up against Aston Villa, and the Nigeria defender is keen to prove himself in England’s top division.
He has taken a roundabout route to making his oft-stated dream come true, via eight years of football in Holland, Belgium, Norway, Turkey, and Italy.
In that time, Troost-Ekong helped Dordrecht secure promotion to the Dutch top flight, represented Holland at under 19 and under 20 levels, made his international debut for Nigeria, played at the Africa Cup of Nations, won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio, and competed at the World Cup in 2018.
Still, his dream of playing in the Premier League remained out of reach. Then he signed with Watford in September 2020, finally playing in the right country to realise his ambitions.
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Troost-Ekong, who was pivotal to the Hornets’ promotion campaign, told ESPN: “It took me all these years just to get to where I wanted to be.
“Now the biggest challenges ahead of me is actually playing in the Premier League and hopefully enjoying myself here. Because that’s something that I have wanted to do all my life.
“It has taken having a lot of perseverance to get here. And now, I feel like I’m just getting started.“
After years of plying his trade around continental Europe, Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong’s dream of playing in the Premier League is about to become a reality with Watford.
It is one thing, of course, to get in the Premier League. Staying there is a completely different kettle of fish.
Despite the increasing gap between rich and not-so-rich clubs, the ambition this time is much the same, according to the Nigerian.
“Being in the Premier League, we want to stay in the Premier League. That should be everyone’s main aiming point, everyone’s main target.” He said.
“After that, we’ll see what happens. And staying in the Premier League is my personal goal with Watford. Of course, the better we can do, the better.”
To meet those ambitions, Watford have added aggressively to their squad, including bringing in a slew of fellow Nigerians as fortification. International team mates Oghenekaro Etebo and Emmanuel Denis, along with junior international Tom Dele-Bashiru, have been signed.