By Charlton Athletic of England’s Nigerian-born center-back, Deji Elerewe has described as amazing his ability to emerge best apprentice player this season in the third-tier of English league football, megasportsarena.com reports.
Elerewe admitted that he initially felt nervous heading into the announcement of his name as the winner, following which he said he got an amazing feeling emerging LFE League One Apprentice of the Year.
He got the prestigious gong during Sunday evening’s 2022 EFL Awards ceremony in London, where the 18-year-old defender emulated the feat of former Charlton winger, Ademola Lookman, who got the same award for the English Championship in 2016.
Elerewe saw off competition from Freddie Draper (Lincoln City) and Michael Williams (Crewe Alexandra) to win the prestigious accolade awarded to outstanding young professionals at EFL clubs who excel both on and off the pitch.
The promising defender, who his first professional contract with The Addicks in November 2021 and has totaled eleven appearances for the first team this season, fared better than two other Nigerian-born players during the awards’ ceremony.
Such it was that Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke and Leyton Orient’s Shadrach Ogie both missed Championship Player of the Season and League Two Young Player of the Season gongs respectively.
Elerewe told the EFL’s official website after picking his prize: “I was nervous at the start but when I got it, it felt amazing.
“I’ve been playing under-18s stuff but the first-team is very different. The gaffer has given me the opportunities to play.”
Comments