Samuel Chukwueze, the Super Eagles forward, has disclosed that his mother still desires him to pursue a career in medicine or pharmacy, despite his success in football, according to Soccernet.ng.

He said: “My mom did not want me to play football. In Africa, everyone focuses on school, and she used to say ‘football will never make you money,” Chukwueze said, per football Italia.

“But I was born with football inside me. I would play until seven in the evening, and when I came home, she would punish me. She would take my football shoes and confiscate them, so I had to hide them.

“The problem was she always found them. Once, she burned my shoes and shirts and told me, ‘Samuel, you need to focus on your studies.’ I tried, but a part of me was switched off.”

Although his mother is highly supportive of him, Chukwueze admits that she still wants him to study and become a medical doctor.

“The funny thing is, in Africa, you don’t change your mind. She still wants me to study, wants me to be a doctor, maybe a doctor in football. I wanted to be a lawyer, but she said, ‘No, no, doctor. You need to study pharmacy,” Chukwueze added.