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By Emma Jemegah
Chris Nathaniel, the United Kingdom based of Nigerian parentage, founder of NVA Sports and Entertainment agency, which manages global sporting superstars and international football stars, has for several years run one of the world’s leading sports talent and entertainment management agencies and his dream is to lead a Nigerian consortium to success with a Premier League team.
Based in London, United Kingdom, and operating throughout Europe and the world for some of the top names in sport, Chris reveals how it all started for him and his team and the interesting things they do for their clients.
Chris, proud of his Nigerian roots, said: “I’ve been in the Sports and Entertainment business for a long time. I first started with Chelsea legend, John Terry, then Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand when they were both at their peak, so two top England stars.
“I also spent time looking after Wilfred Bonny (ex-Swansea who became the highest ever paid African player with his transfer to Manchester City), Steven Nzonzi (ex-Stoke City and World Cup winner with France in 2018), Brazilian midfielder Robinho and now Luis Diaz (Liverpool), and quite a few other players.
“I also looked after other talents like Usain Bolt, and former WBC Heavyweight Boxing champion Deontay Wilder, so Sports and Entertainment is in my blood. On the music front, I have worked with hip-hop icons like Jay Z, P Diddy, 50 Cent, and other talents, like models and actors, so quite experienced across the whole Sports and Entertainment industry.”
Nathaniel led the first ever-African consortium to bid for a Premier League club, Newcastle in 2008, unfortunately the bid was not accepted by then owner Mike Ashley, who eventually sold out to the Arabs.
However, Nathaniel reveals he has unfinished business and has reached out to wealthy Nigerians, including Dangote to launch another bid for a Premier league club. Nathaniel points to the recent valuation of clubs like Manchester United and Tottenham to highlight how Premier League clubs are great takeover targets – his knowledge of club values, structures and accessibility as takeover targets is second to none.
Chris believes football in Nigeria needs an overhaul from top to bottom very similar to what the English FA did after continued failures at major tournaments. In England this resulted in a change of fortune for the English national team, which is now challenging for trophies for the first time since winning the World Cup in 1966.
Nathaniel said: “We look after football players, we give them full support in coaching, mental health, support their passions, and everything you can imagine.
“We take care of every angle for them, our job is to make sure they have long sustainable careers, make sure the right politics are played at their different football clubs, and make sure they get the best out of themselves to become the best they can be.
“Our job is forever widening as agents, not about doing the move but a whole lot, so we are like a mini football club as an agency. Our job is to maximize every possible area for our clients.”
Nathaniel, whose agency has dominated the sports talent market in Europe and across the globe for a long time, explains how challenging scouting is, the transfer market and managing players. He tells how he rates Nigerian players, has a thorough understanding of football back in Nigeria, and explains why African players so sort after by top clubs.
“I rate Nigerian players, as they are powerful, strong, and skillful, and if you look at most of the leagues across Europe, they do feature lots of Nigerian players. This is because they do have that natural physicality, and that is going to increase as the years move on, we are going to get more and more Nigerian players in Europe. I won’t be surprised to see teams full of a squad of African players. More and more, they are dominating the football and player recruitment side of things.
“I do have some understanding of Nigerian football, I’ve spent time with club owners from the NLO (Nationwide League One) and the Chief Operating Officer, Shola Ogunnowo. When they visited the UK on a few occasions, which (NVA Sports & Entertainment Group) helped facilitate. I got the understanding of how football is from the grassroots up, the infrastructure, the challenges they face, and what we are trying to do, which is to create a partnership to make those challenges a bit easier.
The NVA Sports & Entertainment Group boss gave his candid opinion on why the likes of Taiwo Awoniyi and a few African players found it difficult to hit the ground running at Liverpool, but revealed that there are many players of Nigerian descent in the football academies at Merseyside.
Chris said: “Well, it’s tough because when you are at the top end of football, you need to be of a very high standard. Sometimes it takes African players time to develop and get accustomed to Premier League football.
Finally, Nathaniel while commenting on Nigeria’s level of football, spotted areas that need urgent attention and how grassroots football can meet up with the new trends.
“It is clear to many people, that there is no planning, no shared focus and if you don’t plan, you are going to have failure. They need to have a rethink, this should be the goal for the next five years for Nigerian football to achieve XYZ, get all the key stakeholders together and put a clear accountable plan in place, and make that happen. Nigerian players have enormous potential, but very little is being realised. So things have to change now – today not tomorrow not next year, not in five years!!
“Presently, I don’t think that there are enough structures in some of the football academies and clubs. The funding, as it’s really important, means any player that comes out of Nigeria, should get good deals, so that a sizeable amount of money goes back to the academy structure.
“Due to my Nigerian heritage, I dearly want to help the Nigerian academies by using my global network to create partnerships with European clubs, which will involve trials, player development, exchange of coaching knowledge and structural set ups and funding,” he said.
