Zaidu Sanusi cut his teeth in Portugal. Having been in the European country since 2016, Sanusi was on the books of Gil Vicente before he played for the likes of Mirandela and Santa Clara. 

It was from Santa Clara he made the big move to Porto in the summer to replace long-serving Alex Telles who joined Manchester United. 

Since joining the Portuguese giants, the Nigerian has been impressive all round, but it’s in the Champions League where he has almost been flawless.

After an underwhelming game against Manchester City which Porto lost 3-1 at the Etihad, Sanusi has been fantastic in the Champions League. 

He has played in all of Porto’s Champions League games and helped them to three straight wins since that defeat at City. 

Against Marseille on Wednesday, November 25, the 23-year-old got a goal for Porto who won the away tie 2-0. 

Sanusi opened the scoring in the game in the 39th minute, pouncing on a loose ball in the box after a corner kick to finish past the Marseille goalkeeper on his second attempt. 

"It is a very important goal in my career, my first in the Champions League," he said after the game.

Aside from the goal, the Nigeria international had an excellent all-round play. Although a slip in the earlier minutes almost led to a Marseille goal, he recovered well and performed well all through the game. 

Sanusi posed a great for Marseille going forward and forced the goalkeeper to save after he cut in from the left and used his right to shoot at goal from the edge of the penalty area in the 36th minute. 

Defensively, he was also good, doing well to track Florian Thauvin in the Porto box to prevent the French winger from having a clear attempt on goal. 

His goal and performance on Wednesday continued his impressive outings in the Champions League. It’s all going well for the 23-year-old who is the first choice at left-back for Porto and the Super Eagles. Performances like this and he can only go even higher from where.