Alex Iwobi Reveals Okocha Told Him To Dump England For Nigeria

Arsenal striker Alex Iwobi has revealed that ex Super Eagles hero Austin Okocha convinced him to dump England for Nigeria, after telling him that he would become a better player if his international future is pledged to his country of birth.

The 19 - year - old appeared 11 times for England’s youth sides prior to making his international debut for Nigeria in their friendly against Democratic Republic of Congo on October 8.

“Right now I would say I’m pushing to play for Nigeria,” Alex Iwobi told the latest edition of Arsenal Magazine, according to arsenal.com.

“Playing for England was a good experience but Nigeria gave me a great opportunity to go and play for my home country, and also follow in the footsteps of my uncle, so I think that is going to be the pathway for me.

“He (Okocha) told me that if I played for Nigeria I could become even better than him. To hear that was massive because he was a great player. He’s given me a challenge and I might have to accept it.”

Iwobi first trained with Nigeria’s Olympic squad in January but could make his debut for Samson Siasia’s side due to uncertainty surrounding his eligibility to don the national team’s colours after representing the youth teams of England.

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