Exclusive: Arsenal's Free-Kick Expert Dazzles Nigeria U17 Coaches In Turkey But.......

Published: October 03, 2019

Allnigeriasoccer.com can exclusively report Arsenal teenage sensation Malcolm Ebiowei made a surprise appearance at the camp of the Golden Eaglets during the UEFA ASSIST International Tournament which ended in Turkey last week.

The attacking midfielder was invited to attend a training camp in Abuja two months ago but was not released by Arsenal due to club commitments.

In addition, he was advised by one of the foreign-based players that previously attended the Golden Eaglets training camp not to waste his time and money flying to Abuja because of the intricacies involved in selecting the final World Cup roster.

Nigeria U17 coaches led by Manu Garba monitored Ebiowei at close quarters in Turkey and were highly impressed with his quality but the bad news is that it was too late to add his name to the provisional squad.

Although Manu Garba has earmarked Ebiowei as one for the future, the free-kick expert celebrated his 16th birthday in September, meaning he is not age eligible to play for the Golden Eaglets at the 2021 FIFA U17 World Cup.

The Gunners schoolboy has been in blistering form for the U16 team since the start of this season and was rewarded with a debut for Arsenal U18s against Southampton on August 31.

Ebiowei has represented England and Netherlands youth teams but he is not provisionally cap-tied to the two European nations.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : instagram.com/malcolmebiowei