England Boss Reacts To Rumors Everton Winger Has Switched Allegiance To Nigeria

Published: September 13, 2018

England national team boss Gareth Southgate has reacted to speculations that emanated from the local media in which it was claimed that Everton winger Ademola Lookman has switched allegiance to the Super Eagles.

The London-born Lookman is eligible to represent Nigeria through his parents but is provisionally cap-tied to England after playing for their youth teams in official matches.

On the same day the news broke, the winger started for the Young Lions in a European U21 Championship qualifier against Latvia, which punctured the credibility of the story.

''I know every country is quite aggressive in their recruiting and I know they have always had an interest in him, but he is playing and has been in our squads, the 20s, 21s,'' Southgate told reporters.

''So in terms of encouragement through game time, we are doing as much as we possibly can.''

Indeed, the Nigerian Federation, President Amaju Pinnick in particular, have been aggressive in their recruiting of dual-eligible players, with as many as seven players named in Nigeria's squad list for the 2018 World Cup and trained by other national associations having more than one passport.

They include Alex Iwobi, Victor Moses, Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Tyronne Ebuehi, Brian Idowu and Joel Obi.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : thefa.com