WILFRED
NDIDI

The move concluded an eight-year Leicester run (2017-25) that included 270+ Premier League appearances, the 2020-21 FA Cup as starter, and the 2015-16 squad's most-recent Champions League knockout campaign as the deeper-lying ball-winner. Leicester were relegated in 2024-25; Ndidi's contract expired in June 2025 and several Premier League returnees plus a serious Saudi Pro League offer competed for him before Beşiktaş closed the deal in early August.

Beşiktaş paid no transfer fee but reports in Fanatik and Sabah put Ndidi's net salary in the €5-6m per season range across the three years, with sign-on bonus and image-rights detail handled separately. On 17 October 2025 Beşiktaş manager Sergen Yalçın named him vice-captain, and on 27 December 2025 he was confirmed as the team's first-choice captain in absence of the long-serving Necip Uysal.

Adaptation has been straightforward. Ndidi started 27 of the first 30 Süper Lig matches, anchoring a midfield rebuild alongside Rafa Silva and Salih Uçan. Beşiktaş entered the spring of 2026 in the European places of the league, with Ndidi's tackle-and-interception rates registering at his Leicester peak per FotMob's Süper Lig dashboard.

Troost-Ekong had been captain through AFCON 2023 (the 2-1 final loss to Côte d'Ivoire) and the early 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. The handover was formalised in a December 2025 squad media call in Marrakech, where Chelle named Ndidi captain and Calvin Bassey vice-captain. Public reaction in Nigeria was largely positive; Troost-Ekong was retained in the squad and started the AFCON group stage at centre-back.

AFCON 2025 ran December 2025 to January 2026 in Morocco. Nigeria finished third, beating Egypt in the third-place playoff after losing the semi-final 4-2 on penalties to hosts Morocco (the eventual tournament winners following a March 2026 CAF appeals ruling). Ndidi started every Super Eagles match and was named to the CAF Team of the Tournament for his coverage of the central zone in front of the back four.

Six weeks earlier, on 16 November 2025 in Rabat, Nigeria lost the 2026 World Cup CAF playoff final 4-3 on penalties to DR Congo after a 1-1 draw through extra time. Ndidi played all 120 minutes and converted his shootout penalty. Nigeria's failure to qualify means the next major tournament for Ndidi as captain is AFCON 2027, also in Morocco.

Three Leicester seasons (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2020-21) saw Ndidi finish first in the Premier League for combined tackles plus interceptions, per Opta data syndicated to Sky Sports. The defining trait is his ability to read the second pass; he covers ground less than Kanté did at peak but anticipates the receiver's body position more accurately, which translates into clean ball recoveries rather than scrappy duels.

His on-ball game grew over the Leicester years. Earlier in his career he was a strict destroyer with a recycling pass; the post-2021 version added forward driving runs from deep, occasional set-piece headers, and a credible threat from outside the box. He scored 10 Leicester goals across the eight seasons, with the most-watched coming against Manchester United in 2018 (a swerving 25-yard finish into the top corner).

At Beşiktaş, Yalçın uses him as the deepest of three midfielders in a 4-3-3, with licence to step into the back line if Beşiktaş build out under press. The role differs slightly from his Leicester double-pivot job and has produced a slight uptick in passes per ninety while keeping the tackle and interception base.