CHEYENNE WANTS MORE BIG SCALPS
And now extravagantly named Wigan star has Southampton in his sights
WITH a name like Cheyenne, you are destined to take scalps.
And that is just what Cheyenne Armani Keanu Roma Dunkley is doing.
The Wigan defender has quite a collection and has the prized ones of Manchester City, West Ham and Bournemouth, not forgetting Newcastle with Oxford last season.
His parents must have had an inkling about his future career because they called him Roma, although they hedged their bets with his other middle names.
“My first name is Cheyenne as in the North American tribe,” he said when asked to explain the most exotic name in English football.
“Armani, which I’m not really fond of, I assume that’s from the designer. Keanu after Keanu Reeves the actor and Roma because my dad likes football. People ask me if they’re made up, but they’re real and the lads here had a right laugh when they saw my passport.”
Riding shotgun beside Dunkley for nearly all Wigan’s giantkilling FA Cup run has been Sam Morsy and they have known each other since they were kids growing up in Wolverhampton.
They met aged 10 when Dunkley went for a trial at Wolves, where Morsy was already on the books.
They have remained friends since, supporting each other as their meandering careers took different paths before they were reunited at Wigan in the summer when Dunkley joined from Oxford.
Dunkley rang Morsy, who is five months older, for advice before signing for Wigan and he has always been like a big brother to him.
“I took him under my wing even then!” Morsy joked. “We lived about 10 minutes apart in Wolverhampton and would meet up and play, whether that be five-a-side or whatever.
“Chey’s always been a bubbly character. He’s a big, aggressive centre-half, but his personality off the pitch is joking and being in the middle of things.
“If one of us needs encouragement, the other one is always there and we have helped each other when we’ve had setbacks. That’s so important because football is a selfish industry.” Morsy will captain Wigan against Southampton tomorrow and Dunkley says he has always been a leader.
“Morse was the main guy at Wolves and showed captain attributes even at that young age,” he recalled.
“He’s always been competitive. When we do anything in training, he always has to win. Even if he loses he will say, ‘I’m sure I got a few more points than you’.”
Morsy and Dunkley still meet up every summer to play five-a-side with their boyhood pals, including Sam Winnall of Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton’s Connor Goldson. “We last played together in the summer,” said Dunkley. “There’s Sam, Connor and a guy called Ashley Brown. He thinks he is the five-a-side Xavi! The closest he gets to being Xavi is he plays FIFA.”
The pair, who are both 26, are close, but Dunkley jokes someone more famous may have usurped him as Morsy’s best pal. “He’s my best mate,” said Dunkley. “But he would probably say his is Mo Salah!”
Morsy and Salah are team-mates for Egypt and the Latics midfielder will fly to Cairo on Monday to join up with the Liverpool star for the national team.
Morsy, who qualifies through his Egyptian father, says Salah has been a huge help since he joined up with the Pharoahs and that he will be rooting for Wigan against Southampton.
“Mohamed Salah is great,” added Morsy. “He’s a world superstar, but he’s so humble and he always makes me feel comfortable.
“I’m the only Egyptian left in the FA Cup. We support each other whenever we play. It’s a chance for us to make history. The club won the Cup, but to get to the semis as a League One club would be some achievement.”