Sam Allardyce, former Bolton Manager has given today’s transfer market value for Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Sports247 reports.
Sam Allardyce reign in Bolton, a struggling English Premiership club was characterised by the rare presence of a world class footballer from Nigeria, Austin Jay Jay Okocha.
Jay Jay is regarded as one of the best players to put on the Bolton shirt, he was the fan’s favorite including winning the opposition’s fans heart with his elaborate dribbling skills and superb control of the round leather object, as he is blessed with a pair magical feet with the ball on it.
Sam Allardyce was able to turn the fortune of Bolton Wanderer with assemblage of world class in their twilight which include Ivan Campo, Youri Djorkaef, Fernando Hierro but Jay Jay was miles apart.
Jay Jay Okocha made Allardyce’s Bolton a toast for all football lovers between 2002 and 2006 and Sam Allardyce can’t summarized Jay Jay impacts’ on the team less.
“When you are talking to somebody with the class of Jay Jay, on and off the field, and what he brings. The Premier League – in our opinion and what the stats were saying – was catching up with him a little bit.” Big Sam said on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast.
“Sometimes I look back at short clips of Jay Jay Okocha at Bolton and when you put them all together – some of the runs he made, the passes, the tricks, the goals he scored – it makes you tingle. There were him and many others, what an era that was
When he was asked what would have been Jay Jay’s worth in today’s market. Big Sam replied: “£100million.
To think of it Jay Jay was free to join any of the top clubs in the EPL after the expiration of his contract at Paris Saint Germain in 2022 but none came for him until Allardyce showed up.
He joined Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer anyways and Allardyce have this to say: “I have always said why did nobody else take him in the Premier League? ”
” What reputation did he have to say he is not for us on a free transfer?”
“Somebody must have thought he wouldn’t fit into the structure of the team but he took instructions better than anybody else.”
“The manager wants to play like this and we play like this and get on with it, that is him as captain.”
“Within the structure you have to allow those talented players to express themselves and that is what we did. He was so good in terms of what he achieved.”
Jay Jay left Bolton in 2006, Sam Allardyce captured the moment as one of the saddest moment for him as saying goodbye was so hard for him.
“Probably one of the saddest things, when you’ve got what you consider a world class player, when my job is to say it is the end,”
“That is one of the hardest things you have to do as a manager because nobody believes it, I didn’t when they told me.” Allardyce submits.
