Former Super Eagles captain, Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha, has revealed why he left Paris Saint-Germain to join Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League.
After breaking out in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt, Okocha, famous for his flicks and tricks, joined Fenerbahce after winning the Atlanta ’96 Olympics gold medal.
Two years later, the attacking midfielder landed in Paris Saint-Germain after playing for the Super Eagles at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
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Okocha put pen to paper with Le Parisien on a four-year deal for £14 million, a fee that made him the most expensive African player at the time.
“I went to PSG at the wrong time. Imagine going now. I played with Pochettino, Arteta, Heinze and Ronaldinho, but it was just for a season before I left.
“It was the wrong time because when I got there, I met players that were just happy to be there. So, the mentality wasn’t the same.
“It was in my fourth season that I really enjoyed my football there. They wanted to keep me for another year, but I already had enough because I wanted to play in the Premier League,” the 1994 AFCON winner said on the Obi One podcast.
The 53-year-old, regarded as one of football’s greatest-ever entertainers, didn’t have the best time under then-PSG coach Luis Fernandez.
“We [Ronaldinho and Okocha] had a lot of issues with Fernandez and I couldn’t understand why.
“To be honest, that was why I left. He’d come into the dressing room, see us laughing, even though we were struggling with the little French we knew, and quiz us on what made us so happy.
“We didn’t like that he was picking on us, so why shouldn’t we smile before training? We didn’t really enjoy our time with him,” he said.
In the summer of 2002, in a bid to test himself in the English Premier League, Okocha agreed to join Bolton, largely because it was close to Manchester, which the ex-Fenerbahce midfielder took to mean the clubs were on the same level.
“The offer came at the right time, and to be honest, I didn’t do my research.
“I thought everywhere in England was nice. I’d been to London before then, I’d played against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“So, when I heard Bolton and saw that it was about 10 minutes away from Manchester, I thought both clubs were at the same level.
“When I was invited to negotiate, they picked me up at the Manchester airport, drove me straight to the Stadium, and you know, the stadium is beautiful.
“We did a tour around the stadium; it was nice, but they didn’t take me to the training ground and kept it away from me.
“It was after I signed and resumed training that I saw that the changing room was a cabin, and they had just three running showers, which means the players had to queue. First come, first served,” Okocha added.
“Then I wondered what I was doing there, but as a football person, I could live anywhere, and with Manchester just 15 minutes away, it helped with shopping.
“What mattered to me was the football, but to be honest, the difference from PSG was day and night,” Okocha said.
