John Ogu has come out to allay fears over the health condition of Samuel Kalu, after the winger collapsed in Bordeaux’s Ligue 1 game against Marseille on Sunday, Completesports reports.

Kalu collapsed on the pitch just five minutes into the encounter but was allowed to play on after receiving treatment from medical staff.

Eventually he was precautionarily substituted eight minutes later.

Kalu, 23, had been preparing to form a defensive wall at a free-kick when he collapsed to the turf in the 25 degree Marseille heat.

Concerned team-mates formed a human shield around him, the like of which was seen when Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020.

Thankfully, however, Kalu appeared to be OK, remarkably getting up and playing on before the decision to come off was taken out of his hands.

He did touch the ball again in the match, but was soon replaced by Remi Oudin.

Opposition fans stood up to clap him off at Stade Velodrome.

The cause of the incident is not yet known.

And Ogu, who is teammates with Kalu in the Super Eagles revealed he has spoken with him and he is now okay.

“Spoke to my brother Samuel Kalu . No worries , he FINE!!!” 

This is it not the first time Kalu has collapsed on the football pitch as he was rushed to hospital on the eve of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations opener in Egypt back in 2019.

Kalu collapsed in training on that occasion, due to what was described at the time as ‘severe dehydration’.

He had been taking a corner when the scary incident occurred, but was thankfully OK after treatment.

By James Agberebi

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