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Nigerian forward Tolu Arokodare has opened up about the difficult period he endured at FC Cologne, describing it as the lowest point of his career, Soccernet.football reports.
In an interview with Humo, the 24-year-old shared how he struggled for playing time, faced cultural challenges, and lost confidence due to a lack of support from his teammates and coaches.
Arokodare joined Cologne in 2020 on loan from Latvian club Valmiera, arriving as a promising young striker.
However, his time in Germany proved challenging. He made just 11 appearances during the 2020/21 season, totaling a mere 128 minutes without registering a single goal or assist.
Reflecting on his experience, he said: “For a long time, I thought that no one was stronger in the head than me. Until I ended up in Germany. We had three strikers, but even when the other two were injured, they preferred to use a midfielder or even the left defender in the striker role. My teammates laughed at me, the coach didn’t believe in me, my self-confidence wavered.”
The challenges were exacerbated by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arokodare revealed: “I haven’t seen my family for almost two years and played video games all day. I approached the coach asking for advice, and he said he was tired of explaining the same thing to me. That didn’t make sense because he never spoke to me!“
Despite these struggles, Arokodare has transformed his career at KRC Genk under the guidance of German coach Thorsten Fink.
The striker has flourished in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League this season, netting 13 goals and providing five assists in 21 games.
Speaking about Fink, Arokodare was full of praise: “He is god! I have prayed all my life for such a person to ever come to me. The coach is such a wonderful person. I feel blessed to have someone like him. Suddenly, I had a coach who was 100 percent behind me from day one.”
Now valued at €9 million, Arokodare is being linked with big-money moves to clubs in the Premier League and the French Ligue 1.
