AROUND THE GROUNDS: Around the World

NAME

Jay Jay Okocha

CLUB

Bolton Wanderers

AGE

Born 14th August 1973

HOMETOWN

Enugu, Nigeria

POSITION

Midfield

SQUAD NUMBER

10

SIGNED FOR CLUB

18th June 2002

PREVIOUS CLUBS

Rangers International (Nigeria)
Borussia Neunkirchen (Germany)
Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Paris St. Germain (France)

HEIGHT

177cm

DEBUT

17th August 2002

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Bolton fans say that Jay Jay is so good they had to name him twice! And despite a slow start with the club, he has become a hero for all the fans at the Reebok Stadium - especially after the wonder goal he scored to beat relegation rivals West Ham in the 2002/03 season.

Jay Jay brings excitement, flair and creativity to the team alongside talented French World Cup Winner Youri Djorkaef. He performs much the same job for Nigeria, who he has played for over 50 times.

But Jay Jay's path to the Premiership was not the easiest. He started playing professionally at 16, but it was not until he joined Eintracht Frankfurt in 1992 that people started to notice his dazzling dribbling skills. This led to a £1 million move to Fenerbahce in Turkey in 1996. Okocha helped the side to the Turkish league title in his first season, but left two years later in a staggering £10 million transfer to Paris St. Germain, making him the most expensive Nigerian footballer ever. Since then, the Bolton manager, Sam Allardyce, somehow persuaded him to swap the Eiffel Tower for Lancashire, and he's been entertaining British fans ever since.