US Monastir of Tunisia striker, Anthony Okpotu has declared emphatically that he is enjoying his stay in the North African country, where he at the weekend emerged highest goals scorer in their top-flight league, megasportsarena.com reports
It was a repeat of a similar feat pulled off by the former Lobi Stars of Makurdi striker during his time in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), as he also emerged highest scorer before moving to Tunisia and linked up with his present club just last summer.
In his second season in the Tunisian Ligue 1 TN, Okpotu has now finished as goleador and ‘The Panther’ said it was made possible through the support and love he has enjoyed since joining Monastir on the eve of the current season.
He had already scored 13 goals this term and before the last game of the season on Sunday against Ben Guerdane, and the closest rival happened to be Club Africain’s Burkinabe forward, Bassirou Compaore on eight goals.
Aside emerging highest scorer in the league, Okpotu is also the first Monastir player to achieve double digits and his presence has helped the modest side to their first ever qualification for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation Cup and Arab Clubs Cup, while a leading publication, Foot24Tn had earlier named him best foreign player in Tunisia.
Okpotu’s feat also makes him the second Nigerian player, after Michael Eneramo, to be crowned top goals scorer in the Tunisian league, and the all-action attacker went on to dedicate the award to his club, their fans as well as all his well-wishers at home and abroad.
His haul of 13 goals in his debut season helped him finish top in the Tunisian championship, but it is still low compared to his feat of 2017, when he ended with 19 goals in the NPFL and the ace admitted he had a bright start to his days with the club, as he netted on his debut for Monastir against Club Sportif Sfaxien, who eventually finished the season second on the log.
The dark-skinned bulky forward, who represented Nigeria at the 2018 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in Morocco, has attracted transfer interest from Tunisian champions, Esperance as well as a couple of top clubs in Egypt, Europe and Asia, but he declared loyalty to Monastir for now.
Okpotu told SCORENigeria: “I have enjoyed football in Tunisia. I came here for a purpose and that was achieved with a fantastic team led by a great coach. We qualified for a CAF tournament for the first time and took the club to the Arab Championship too.
“When I accepted the decision to come to Monastir, I promised the club and my management team a minimum of 15 goals. However, I scored 13 goals to be top scorer. I dedicate the goals to US Monastir’s management, technical crew, my amazing teammates and our ever reliable fans. No thanks to Covid19, we missed the fans when the league resumed after the lockdown.”
