Chelsea loanee Ugochukwu remains loyal to France amid Super Eagles call-up claims

Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu has made a decision on his international future amid reports in the local media that he has been included in Eric Chelle's first provisional squad as Super Eagles head coach.

Ugochukwu is the nephew of former Super Eagles central defender and 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist Onyekachi Apam.

The report suggested that the Nigeria Football Federation are racing against time for Chelsea duo Lesley Ugochukwu and Carney Chukwuemeka to switch their allegiance from France and England respectively to Nigeria. 

Allnigeriasoccer.com can exclusively report with certainty that Ugochukwu is still loyal to France at this very moment and has no immediate plans to apply for a nationality switch.

As a result, the Southampton midfielder will not be available for selection in the Super Eagles' World Cup qualifying matches against Rwanda's Wasps and Zimbabwe's Warriors in March 2025.

Born in Rennes to Nigerian parents, Ugochukwu has represented his country of birth at U18, U19, U20, U21 and U23 level.

The 20-year-old became provisionally cap-tied to France after making his competitive debut for their youth team in a European U19 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan in November 2022.

Lesley hopes to earn a place in France’s senior squad in the near future, making it a challenging task for the Nigeria Football Federation to persuade him to switch his allegiance to Nigeria.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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