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Kanu,
a very tall Nigerian international, was voted African
Footballer of the Year in 1996 and in 1999. He made his
European debut with Ajax Amsterdam at the age of sixteen
after already playing with the Nigerian side Federation
Works. By the age of seventeen he had won the European
Cup, World Club Cup, World U-17 Youth Championship, and
three domestic championships in Holland. He went on to
win a Gold Medal with Nigeria at the 1996 Olympic Games
and appeared for Nigeria at the 1998 World Cup in France.
Things
took a turn for the worst for Kanu when he was signed
by Inter Milan in 1996 for £5m, his medical at Inter
showed up a serious heart condition and the club sent
him to America to have an aortic valve replaced. It took
Kanu over a year, but he appeared to make a full recovery,
though things had changed at Inter in that time, as Ronaldo
had arrived and he was sold to Arsenal the following year.
Controversy
surrounded his Arsenal debut when Kanu set up the 'winning'
goal for Arsenal in their FA Cup tie against Sheffield
United. The game was later declared void and replayed,
as the goal was the result of some unsporting play as
Arsenal should have given the ball back to Derby instead
of playing on.
His
unorthodox style is extremely deceptive and he is a master
of holding the ball up, and demonstrates great close control
in confined spaces. He has the ability to come off the
bench and turn a game around. The highlight of his Arsenal
career so far must be last seasons game against Chelsea,
when he came off the subsitutes bench to score three goals
within fifteen minutes to turn a 2-0 defecit into a 3-2
victory.
Kanu
turned down the chance of playing for his country at the
2000 Olympics in Sydney, prefering to stay with his club.
He
has rapidly became a cult figure at Highbury but is reportedly
finding it difficult to settle in London as his family
have so far not been allowed to move to England.
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