EXCLUSIVE: Sporting director who discovered Christantus Uche speaks on his potential

Flashscore spoke to one of the people who discovered Uche in Spain, the sporting director of Ceuta: Edu Villegas.

Christantus Uche's statistics

Flashscore: Edu, I don't know if you are surprised by all the media coverage of Christantus Uche's league debut. Until a few days ago he was unknown to almost everyone, but in just 90 minutes he has emerged as a real star. At what point did Edu Villegas and Agrupación Deportiva Ceuta discover Christantus Uche?

"Well, it all starts from the fact that the president of Moralo, in this case, Horacio, is a close friend of our president and the possibility of this player came up. We usually comb the market from Segunda to Regional or Tercera division, so that's where the possibility appears, with the president's people.

"Afterwards, obviously, they inform me of everything and I tell Victor Gonzalez, who is my assistant, to get down to work. We talked, he analysed it, and the truth is that we worked perfectly on the defensive positions. Then he told me to give the green light to the incorporation of Uche for Ceuta B, both as a defensive pivot and as a midfielder.

"That's when everything was closed for him to come, and after that, the other possibility arose, where the first team comes up with José Juan (Romero, the coach), who is the one who starts to work with him, and he starts to analyse him and show him the game that he thinks he needs to get out of him, and from there, words are unnecessary because now look at the situation, what it is."

I understand that it was a gamble to bring him from Moralo, where in principle he had signed to play with their reserve team, and I think, Edu, that in the first instance, Ceuta's objective was for him to also start with the reserve team, in the RFEF Third Division.

"He came for Ceuta B, because we have a structured project, a solid project, and we've been bringing in important, interesting players for the first team as well as for other clubs through transfers over the last few years. There are examples like Jota, who is in the first team, or Cedric, who has signed for Cartagena, in Segunda A, Alberto Reina for Mirandés, or the case of Uche.

"And well, Uche came to Ceuta B, but we have a coach, with talent when it comes to bringing up young players, and he doesn't care if they are 40 or 20 years old.

In this case, he sees the players, analyses them, works on them, perfects them, and when he saw Uche, he started to work with him in the first team, and on match day seven against Real Madrid Castilla, he played in the starting line-up and continued to do so until the last game of the playoff for the Segunda A with Nastic de Tarragona. He attracted the attention of many important clubs, and in the end, he joined Getafe."

I think there were several teams from Primera A that contacted Ceuta to sign him. Why did Getafe finally take him?

"There have been several important clubs from this country and other nearby countries that have shown interest in Uche. From November, December, there were already teams that started to ask for him, they showed a lot of interest, but they didn't make a final decision and didn't take a step forward.

"Getafe did eventually make the move. It's true that there have been very important clubs that did ask, that were clear that he could be an interesting player, but they didn't go, as it can be said, 100%. Getafe, yes, came for with everything, and obviously, we told they, as we told everybody, that he was an absolute potential.

"And there he is. We know, that it's difficult to succeed and he is very young, but he is hungry, excited and very eager to be a footballer. So from Ceuta we are very proud of what he has done and above all we are happy for him."

I have to ask him if you were surprised, not by the debut and the goal he scored in San Mames, but by the position he played in. Because he started playing as a centre-back, then as a defensive pivot, and then Pepe Bordalas practically turned him into a centre-forward in the Cathedral against Athletic Club. Did he get to play in such advanced positions in Ceuta?

"Uche is a defensive midfielder, he is an 'all-rounder', a defensive midfielder with a strength and physical power that allows him to get in with the centre-backs and even get into the opposition box.

"He is a finisher, he covers the field, he has stride, he wins individual duels, both in attack and defence. He is a cannon, he is complete at the highest level, with brutal strength and power. Those are, roughly and quickly, his physical conditions and his natural position."

There are rumours that say that the Caballa side acquired the services of Crisantus Uche for a mere 800 euros from Moralo. What's the truth in that?

"Obviously, there are a lot of things being said in football circles. We are the ones who know everything and how the operation to bring him in went. I can't give exact details, but it's not like that, there isn't a club, no matter what category it is, that asks for 800 euros for a transfer, that doesn't exist.

"What happens is that there are some misinterpretations about what he was paid when he arrived at Ceuta B, about what he was paid later in the first team or about the transfer to Getafe. I can't give in detail the figures that there have been, both when we signed him, and when we transferred him and so on, and the percentages of future transfers, but to answer the question, 800 euros were not paid for him to come from Moralo to Ceuta."

I think Ceuta will keep 20% of a future sale?

"I can't give you any data beyond that, but well, we are talking about the fact that our president is an extremely prepared person, very capable and very clever, and the truth is that he has managed to make a great deal for all parties. It's not easy to do that kind of manoeuvring and that kind of transfer."

Where do you see Uuche in a couple of seasons?

"Well, one thing is what we would like, what I would like personally, which is to see him succeed at the elite, and another thing is that I know how complicated football is.

"We would love to see him reach the highest level in the world. That he has the potential to do that, yes, we trust and believe that he is a player with enormous potential, that is obvious, because after we signed him, we gave him the opportunity - we want the best for him and that he does as well as possible, and we are confident that he can go further, of course we do. 

"Today he is in the First Division, in one of the three best leagues in the world, and look how he has started. The advice we give him is not to lose his essence, to remain humble, hard-working, passionate, and to do what he has done since he arrived. That, surely, will help him to achieve and continue to climb the ladder in his life, to have a good personal and professional career."