Tornadoes boss hails Aliyu’s progress

The former Tornadoes starlet, who started his development at the Under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, was on Friday named in Nigeria’s Under-20 squad by head coach, John Obuh. Aliyu’s five-star performance for the Nigerian Under-17 side in 2009 attracted the attention of Villarreal’s scouts and the youngster was eventually transferred to the La Liga side […]

The former Tornadoes starlet, who started his development at the Under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, was on Friday named in Nigeria’s Under-20 squad by head coach, John Obuh.

Aliyu’s five-star performance for the Nigerian Under-17 side in 2009 attracted the attention of Villarreal’s scouts and the youngster was eventually transferred to the La Liga side in 2010.

Interestingly, only 10 players from John Obuh’s Golden Eaglets side in 2009 progressed to the Africa Youth Championship side and Aliyu is the only defender from that group.

David expressed excitement that the young defender has continued to work hard in his new club.

“Aliyu’s progress is an indication of the kind of youth development that we have in Tornadoes. I’m happy that Tornadoes produced him and the fact that he has moved to the next level with the national team.

”Discipline in Tornadoes is something we enforce and our players have always displayed that whenever they get to the national teams and foreign clubs. The career of a player won’t get anywhere without discipline.

“Aliyu is one of our former players, who have made the club proud. He is an indigene of Niger State and we scouted him from the grassroots. We have a robust working relationship with several grassroots clubs in the state,” he said to SuperSport.com.

The former Nigeria Football Federation board member revealed that the team did its best to ensure Aliyu’s transfer to the La Liga side was properly monitored.

“We screened every detail of the contract papers to make his transfer hitch-free. It’s something we always do for our players to boost their development,”