Messi’s skills and Bellingham’s goals inspire Olaoluwa Abiodun at Shuffle Select Football Academy

Olaoluwa Abiodun, a young entrepreneur at the Shuffle Select Football Academy in Abule Egba, Lagos, has revealed that he learns by watching the skills of Lionel Messi and the goals of Jude Bellingham to improve.

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Sports247 reports that the fast-growing lad, who can play as a midfielder and forward, is currently making waves with Shuffle Select in the Seamoriow U15 football competition in Ikotun, Lagos, where his team will take on the hosts in the first semi-final on Thursday.

All eyes will be on Abiodun after he scored four goals to emerge as man of the match in his team’s 8-0 thrashing of Bee United during the quarter-finals on Tuesday and is in the race to be top scorer.

The youngster, a student of Oke Odo Secondary School, also thanked his coach, Babatunde Ashifa, for guiding him in the right direction to become a future Nigerian football star.

“I am happy with how my coach is teaching me how to play football,” Abiodun said. “That’s why I always like to arrive early to our training sessions at Ebenezer Elementary School.

“He was the one who brought me to the club in 2024 and I have learned a lot from him since then. I also learn by watching the way Messi and Bellingham play. I try to combine their styles at any time when I play.”

Sports247 further learned that Abiodun could soon be in line to strike a deal abroad as Shuffle Select Football Academy director Ibrahim Odeyinka is connected with several clubs in Europe as well as England’s Brook House College.