The viral report of the interest of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle in luring players born abroad to commit to the senior national team of Nigeria has been explained by a chieftain of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Chelle who will take charge of the team for the first time in March when they take on Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively in the world cup qualifiers is reportedly keen on adding six players born abroad to his team.
Arsenal’s youngster Ethan Nwaneri, on loan Chelsea duo Carney Chukwuemeka and Lesley Ugochukwu, Monaco’s George Ilenikhena, newly signed Rennes winger Kazeem Olaigbe and Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy.
Reacting to the news a chieftain of the NFF said none of the above listed players will be in the list of players for the games in March, but as it’s customary in a world cup year some players will make themselves available if the team makes it to the tournament next year.
” None of the players will be in the team for the March games, but we can look forward to subsequent games for those who are interested in playing for Super Eagles, but it’s a world cup year so you expect eligible players to make themselves available for selection especially if we qualify. That has been the practice for a while now”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com in an exclusive chat.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman