There are three Nigeria representatives on L'Equipe's ranking of the top 50 players born after 1 January 1996.

The reputable French sports daily has published a list of the most promising up-and-coming players in the world, with Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi and Leicester City stars Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho included.

Iwobi is the highest ranked Nigerian player at number 25, followed by Iheanacho who ranked 29th while Ndidi finished 36th.

The best five U21 players are Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona) and Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan) in that order.

Iwobi is getting closer and closer to returning to the Gunners' first team after he fell out of favour towards the end of the 2016-2017 campaign.

Kelechi Iheanacho joined Leicester City in the summer for 25 million pounds, and broke the transfer fee record for a Nigerian player in the process.

Midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was named Leicester City's Young Player of the Year last season.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel