Rangers CB namechecks Saka, Eze, Olise, others; urges NFF to make Super Eagles more attractive

Rangers central defender Leon Balogun has called on the Nigeria Football Federation to make the senior national team more attractive after missing out on some exciting players with dual nationality. 

The English Football Association won the recruitment battle for Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka and Crystal Palace dazzler Eberechi Eze, even though the latter trained with the Super Eagles before a cancelled friendly with Burkina Faso in 2017.

Bayern Munich ace Michael Olise chose to commit his international future to France, despite being approached by former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick and being named to the Super Eagles' provisional roster for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Republic of Benin and Lesotho in 2021.

The Nigeria Football Federation did not do enough to convince Real Madrid star David Alaba and Manchester City's Manuel Akanji to play for the Super Eagles before they appeared in cap-tying games for Austria and Switzerland respectively.

Reports on Monday suggested that new England boss Thomas Tuchel is keeping an eye on Arsenal wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri, with plans to call him up to the Three Lions, while Manchester United striker Chido Obi is another player to watch.

Speaking to Ayodele Olu Ibidapo, German-born Balogun reflected on his Nigerian identity and urged the Nigerian Federation to make more effort to draw top dual-national players to the Super Eagles. 

"There’s so much potential, so many players. Look at David Alaba, Manuel Akanji, Michael Olise — players we missed out on — Eze, Saka, and so many others.," Balogun remarked. 

"Still more to come, there's one guy now at Werder Bremen Felix Agu, so obviously it's about sending the right messages, making the national team attractive.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who felt at the time I got called up to the national team that this is home, this is my other half calling me to come home, find out who you are.

"Until that point, I wasn't in touch too much with my Nigerian identity and I'm still learning now because it has been two years I started actually to learn Yoruba with a teacher which is not easy."

Nigeria's run to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final was bolstered by dual-national players, including Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong, and Samuel Ajayi, all featuring in erstwhile coach Jose Peseiro's ideal starting lineup.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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