Former Barcelona star Orlandi suggests Chukwueze’s best position

Former Barcelona star Andrea Orlandi has advised Spanish club Villarreal on the best position of Samuel Chukwueze.

The Super Eagles forward made a substitute appearance in the Yellow Submarine’s 2-1 defeat to Real Sociedad in Monday’s La Liga game at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Chukwueze was brought on for Fernando Nino in the 46th minute and was initially deployed as centre-forward, where his side was short of men due to suspension and injury problems.

The winger struggled in the position, failing to get sufficient space to help his playing style before switching to his familiar wide role where he shone.

Willian Jose opened the scoring moments before the hour mark for Real Sociedad before Diego Llorente doubled the visitors’ lead.

Chukwueze then set up Santi Cazorla to reduce the deficit with five minutes left to play, which proved too late as the Whites and Blues held their nerve to claim maximum points.

Orlandi feels the Nigeria international should not have played as centre-forward, stating the wing role is his best position.

"Cazorla is a very intelligent footballer, he knows he doesn't have the legs he used to have so he uses his brain, even more, it is as useful as it was, fantastic player," Orlandi said on La Liga TV.

"It all comes from Samuel Chukwueze playing on the right, he came on for Fernando Nino, disappointing performance from the youngster.

"Chukwueze was playing as a striker in the first 35 minutes of the second half, he couldn't find the spaces, he needs spaces to run, he needs to play on the wing.

"He played there in the last fifteen minutes and he caused problems for Real Sociedad but it was a little bit too late for Villarreal."

The defeat to Real Sociedad ended the chance of the Yellow Submarine to qualify for next season’s Champions League, since they are left with two games and are nine points behind fourth-placed Sevilla.

Chukwueze has been a consistent performer for the Yellow Submarine this season, featuring in 39 games across all competitions, scoring four goals and providing five assists.

The Super Eagles forward joined Villarreal’s youth setup in 2017 following his eye-catching display for the Golden Eaglets at the 2015 U17 World in Chile.

The forward was promoted to the Yellow Submarine’s senior side in 2018 and has been impressing for the Spanish side.

Chukwueze will hope to help Villarreal secure a positive result when they take on league leaders Real Madrid on Thursday.