Celtic add two teenagers of Nigerian descent to Champions League squad pre-Slovan Bratislava

Scottish Premiership champions Celtic have updated their UEFA Champions League roster before Wednesday evening's clash with Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park, with two teenagers of Nigerian descent, Josh Dede and Lenny Agbaire, included on List B, alnigeriasoccer.com reports.

UEFA rules state that a player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 2003 and has, since his 15th birthday, been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.

Dede, who is a defender has been on the books of the Hoops for eight years having joined the Glasgow club in July 2016, while centre-back Lenny Agbaire also signed for Celtic 2016, making them eligible to be included on List B.

Having been registered for the UEFA Youth League, the involvement of the two Scottish-Nigerian players in the Champions League fixture against Slovan Bratislava is uncertain.

If included in the matchday squad to face the Slovak Super Liga side, Dede (18) will wear the number 53 on the back of his jersey while Agbaire (19) has been assigned number 50 for the Champions League. 

Dede and Agbaire rubbed shoulders with Celtic's first team stars during preparations for the new season and were handed starting berths in their pre-season opener against Ayr United in the first week of July.

Dede, a Scotland U19 international, was in Celtic's traveling squad to the United States, but was a non-playing substitute in back-to-back friendlies against Chelsea and Manchester City. 

In the coming years, Dede and Agbaire will be aiming to emulate 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner Efe Ambrose who represented Celtic thirteen times in the Champions League.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: celticfc.com

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