Nigeria has produced Taiwo Awoniyi, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, and Calvin Bassey – first-team players across the Premier League, LaLiga, and the Champions League. And behind every one of them, hundreds more players who were good enough for that stage and never got seen.
That was the reality of scouting Sub-Saharan Africa. European clubs built recruitment networks across most of the world for senior football, and almost all of them used to stop at the edges of youth football on the continent.
At Eyeball, we have always believed Africa to be one of the most under-scouted markets in world football. The barriers are real – the continent is vast, staff and travel budgets rarely stretch to speculative trips, market knowledge was low, and until recently there was almost no video content or data around African competitions at youth level to help build a picture from a distance.
The workarounds have been imperfect. Some clubs partnered with individual academies to establish presence on the ground – expensive, localised, and by definition unable to see the wider talent moving through the rest of the continent. Others waited for African players to prove themselves at smaller European clubs first, then paid a premium to acquire the risk-tested version.
Taiwo Awoniyi was born in Ilorin, Kwara State, in 1997. He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool because he got seen because someone was watching, in the right place, at the right time and at multiple times. Most players as talented as Awoniyi never got that moment.
“I know from my own journey how much talent can depend on being in the right place at the right time. I was fortunate to be discovered, but opportunity for young players should not be left to luck. Through this partnership, we want to give players in the Kwara Kiddies League a more structured pathway to be seen, followed and given a real opportunity to take the next step.”
— Taiwo Awoniyi, Director, Kwara Kiddies League
Eyeball was built on one premise: Visibility Creates Opportunity. In the specific, practical sense that a scout in Europe can open a player profile on a 16-year-old in Ilorin (Nigeria) and evaluate him with the same evidence he uses for a 16-year-old in Paris (France).
We have partnered with clubs and federations across the Premier League, Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga, LaLiga, MLS, QSL, and the Saudi Pro League. More than 3,000 amateur clubs and academies across three continents film their matches and supply the players we profile. Each year, hundreds of young players move into professional environments after being identified through Eyeball.
We are proud to provide a structured pathway for young footballers in Kwara to be seen, tracked and discovered.
Now in its sixth season, the Kwara Kiddies League, a competitive U-15 league featuring 14 grassroots academies and teams, is taking the next step in its player development pathway by joining Eyeball. Every player will be profiled on Eyeball scouting platform, built to exactly the same standard as every other 500,000+ player on Eyeball.
Talent identification is the first step. Development is where the real work happens.
Every coach in the Kwara Kiddies League gets working access to the same analysis and communication tools used by academy heads at professional clubs across Europe. After each match, a 15-year-old midfielder can see his own highlights and his passing data set against U15 benchmarks from Eyeball’s full global dataset of 500,000+ players.
Youth scouting’s most persistent problem is that what a player shows at 13 is a poor predictor of what he becomes at 17. Physical development, late blooming, context – early identification misses as many strong players as it finds. Eyeball’s tools are built to track the trajectory, and understand the potential.
The players entering the Kwara Kiddies League this season do not need someone to happen to be there first. Any scout with an Eyeball account can open, track and scout them from anywhere in the world.
We spoke to Taiwo Awoniyi about his own path out of Ilorin, and what he wants for the players coming through the Kwara Kiddies League behind him.
“I know what being seen at the right moment did for my life. I want to make that possibility less dependent on luck for the next generation.”
— Taiwo Awoniyi, Director, Kwara Kiddies League
Take us back to the moment you got signed by Liverpool. What do you remember about the scout who saw you play — and what would have happened if you had not been seen?
When I signed for Liverpool at 18, it was one of the biggest moments of my life. But when I look back now, I realise how many things had to happen before I could get there. I was a young boy playing football in Ilorin, then I got an opportunity to play in a competition where people saw me, which eventually led me to Imperial Academy, the national team and then Liverpool.
At every stage, somebody had to see me. That is something I think about a lot. I had the talent and I was willing to work, but I was incredibly blessed that the right person was there watching me.
There are so many talented boys across Nigeria who may never get the right person to see them play. That is one of the things we want to change. And with an initiative like Eyeball, we can guarantee that over 500 boys will be seen by the right people.
When you were younger in Ilorin, what did you not have that you would have wanted?
What I would have wanted was a clearer pathway. When you are a young player in Ilorin, you can dream about becoming a professional footballer, but you don’t necessarily know how you get from where you are to where you want to be.
We had talent. We had coaches and people who believed in us. But we didn’t have the technology, visibility and access that young players can have today. We also did not have the education preparing us for the game and outside the game.
All of this knowledge is crucial to a footballer’s development. I wish I had the right people with this knowledge looking after us as young boys. That is why I am trying to be that person for the young boys in the Kwara Kiddies League.
You could have just funded a camp, built pitches, sponsored kits — the things a lot of players do when they go back. Why did giving these players a spot on a scouting platform matter more to you?
All those things are important. Players need good pitches, equipment and competitions, and we are investing in those things too. But for me, development has to lead somewhere.
That is why this partnership matters. The Kwara Kiddies League already gives these boys a structured competition where they can play and develop. Now we are adding another crucial layer — visibility — to reward all the hard work these boys put in.
I know what being seen at the right moment did for my life. I want to make that possibility less dependent on luck for the next generation.
For a young player walking into the Kwara Kiddies League this season with an Eyeball profile that any scout, anywhere, can open — what are you willing to tell him?
I would tell him to work hard, be humble and recognise the opportunity in front of him. I wouldn’t ask him to play every match thinking about who might be watching, but rather to simply put his head down, listen to his coaches, stay disciplined, keep learning and concentrate on becoming a better player every day.
Having your profile on Eyeball doesn’t guarantee you a professional career, and we should be honest with the boys about that. What it does is give your work a greater chance of being seen.
I was once a young boy playing football in Ilorin with the same dream. So I want every boy in this league to understand that where you start does not have to determine where you finish. The pathway is there. Your job is to be ready when your opportunity comes.
Promotional Campaign – All Eyes on You Giveaway
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