The Wasps back who breaks boundaries as conveniently as he does tackles… Fulfill Paolo Odogwu

Can I set these up on my Instagram?’ asks Paolo Odogwu, as he poses for photos in the hip, graffiti-tagged backstreets of Birmingham.

His viewers is escalating quickly. Just after Wasps’ victory more than Bathtub very last 7 days, he obtained 1,000 followers in a single night.

So who is Paolo Odogwu? The Premiership’s soaring star who was born in Coventry, idolised former Nigerian footballer Jay-Jay Okocha and eats pasta on Christmas Day.

Paolo Odogwu is the Wasps’ sizzling-stepper whose on line adhering to is rising speedily

Odogwu was born in Coventry, idolised footballer Jay-Jay Okocha and eats pasta on Christmas

‘A little bit of a cultural mash-up,’ chuckles the English, Nigerian and Italian hot-stepper.

Odogwu’s nationality is of certain desire due to the fact, about the coming days, he will be asked to make a conclusion about which nation he needs to represent in the 6 Nations.

‘I was born here, my dad’s half-Nigerian, 50 percent-Italian and my mum’s entirely Nigerian,’ he says. ‘I like seeing Nigerian football. I love the total vibe. Until finally I went to secondary faculty, it was all soccer. No 1 in my household knew anything about rugby. The 1st rugby video game they watched was me taking part in at school… as a prop!

‘One of my idols was Jay-Jay Okocha. He experienced so a lot skill and flair and I just thought ‘I want to be like him’. I like the strategy of getting your very own person style and which is what I try out to carry in myself. I really don’t want to participate in like any individual else… I just want me to be me.’

Odogwu, 23, has stamped his id all about the Premiership. Just before moving on to his amazing rugby qualifications, he talks as a result of his life away from the rugby pitch: school times, African audio and his parents’ upbringing.

‘My dad and mom had a fairly fantastic track record in Nigeria,’ he suggests. ‘My dad’s dad is a health care provider and my mum’s dad was a corporate law firm. There is a massive prosperity gap there, so you have some men and women with non-public gates and armed safety, then other individuals five minutes down the street residing on the streets. Fortuitously, my mothers and fathers grew up well-educated and they’ve instilled that in me.

The 23-calendar year-aged Odogwu has stamped his identification all more than the Premiership in latest months

‘Growing up, we went to Italy much more than Nigeria. It’s simpler to get to, certainly. We used to go to Bologna each year to see my dad’s household. We take in a good deal of Italian food items. We have a substantial seven-layer lasagne for the first system on Christmas Working day!’

Odogwu is heavily invested in his roots. Last yr he took element in the Black Lives Matter marches and is a vocal campaigner on social media. He can take satisfaction in his look. On the pitch, he stands out with pink-flash dreadlocks and personalised boots, that includes models such as BLM and the NHS. For his photoshoot on trendy Gibb Road, he wears a customised leather jacket and tie-dye impact trousers.

‘When all of the things with George Floyd took place, I resolved to share my own tale,’ states Odogwu, who has had his personal ordeals of racial prejudice. ‘I like to gown a bit out there. It can be my very own model. I’m self-confident in myself, so I like to specific that in my outfits, my boots, my hair.

‘I customise all of individuals matters with hand-painted superhero patterns, wrestlers or whoever. When I was younger I utilized a little Sharpie pen but now I use real paint. You do not get any prospects to replicate your temperament in rugby, so I like to do it via my boots.’

It is not just his vogue and political statements that have been attracting the interest of international coaches. As an attacking force, Odogwu has made more metres and clean up breaks than any person else in the league this period. His job stalled when he was produced by Leicester and supplied minimal possibilities by Sale, right before Wasps signed him up in 2019, lately shifting his posture from wing to centre.

Odogwu has manufactured much more metres and clean up breaks than any person else in the league this year

‘I’ve performed every single sport this year and proven what I can do, so it does really feel a little bit like a breakthrough year’, he claims. ‘Leicester produced me a handful of several years ago and I roamed around for a pair of months, but I generally backed myself to play in the Premiership.

‘At Leicester, it was a whole lot much more of a conventional forwards-based mostly club. Then Sale picked me up and they were being someplace in the center. Coming to Wasps, they have normally experienced sport-breaking wingers who make breaks and score tries. It is really instilled at the club.

‘For me, I liked observing Paul Sackey, Christian Wade, Marland Yarde, Joe Rokocoko. All these guys ended up sick freak athletes, but they also experienced their very own individuality and a bit of swagger. Jason Robinson was a further 1. They just owned it.’

And what about his have style? ‘It’s a bit like a hybrid NFL running back,’ claims Odogwu. 

‘Power, speed, footwork blended collectively. Ideally that will make me tough to protect towards. Getting on defenders, producing difficulties in defensive traces. No matter if which is carrying limited in sticky areas to get a few of yards or producing a line break, I have bought the construct to do equally. 

It is really not just his fashion and political statements that have been attracting interest

‘Playing at centre has permitted me to get far more touches. I was normally going to get possibilities on the ball, it’s just about whether you consider them.

‘I adore the NFL. I’m a major Kansas Metropolis Chiefs enthusiast. Kyler Murray is one of my favourites. He’s really considerably my height and create but he is a beginning quarterback in the NFL.’

Odogwu is growing with each and every efficiency. He has viewed his age-team staff-mates, these types of as Ben Earl, Tom Curry and George Furbank establish by themselves as international gamers and now he is actively playing capture-up. 

His person-of-the-match general performance in opposition to Tub very last 7 days was one more step forwards, leaving much more people asking about his international ambitions. ‘I’m dual nationality so I could play for Italy or England.’

With England set to name a slimmed-down 28-guy squad this 7 days, the most possible circumstance is that Odogwu holds out to see if Jones arrives calling later on in the 12 months. ‘It was not one thing I might thought of until eventually it begun finding blown up in the media this week! It is just been a situation of ‘let’s see what happens’. I have had a couple of small conversations with each, but nothing concrete.

‘If some thing feels ideal, I’ll do it. I’m not going to just throw myself into the initial opportunity simply because that may perhaps not be best for my enhancement. Everything’s happening so immediately for me at the moment. The notice on me went up tenfold right after the Bath activity, so I’m just attempting to sluggish down and procedure what’s heading on.’