Who is the Crawley Town player who has made the Nigerian National Team squad over Premier League talent?

Who is Benjamin Tanimu?

Hailing from Benin City, Nigeria, Benjamin Tanimu made his senior debut for Nigeria in March of this year without playing football outside his home continent. This summer the 22 year old defender earned a move to Europe, with West Sussex and League One football being his destination. Tanimu is yet to play for Crawley, but it’s only a matter of time before an international star of his quality features in the starting XI.

Tanimu played for local Nigerian Premier League side Bendel Insurance FC’s first team from the age of 16, and only left in February 2024 to join Tanzanian Premier League side, Singida Black Stars. He joined Crawley after less than six months at his previous club for a reported fee of 2.3 billion Tanzanian Shillings (£690,000) in an attempt to boost the club’s chances of survival in the third tier of England.

Since his national team call-up in March, Tanimu has not missed a Super Eagles squad and now has three senior caps to his name. He’d also previously played for the Nigerian U23s.

Who wiill Benjamin Tanimu play with?

Tanimu joins a star-studded Nigerian squad, playing alongside the likes of Victor Boniface, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Ola Aina and Calvin Bassey. Victor Osimhen was left out of the squad due to injury. This means the Crawley player has won a spot in the squad over the likes of Luton’s Gabriel Osho (who has previous call-ups but is yet to play for Nigeria) as well as various other defenders from Europe’s top five leagues.

The potentially biggest surprise is his inclusion over Chelsea defender, Tosin Adarabioyo, especially because Tanimu is yet to play a minute of league football this season. Adarabioyo on the other hand has made three Premier League appearances and has played every minute of Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League campaign so far. That being said Tosin is yet to be called up to the Nigerian first team, after playing youth football for England, but it is increasingly hinted that the centre half will feature for the Super Eagles soon.