Nigeria and England are prepared to jostle for the services of Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi.
Iwobi, who is Austin Jay Jay Okocha’s nephew, was born in Lagos and is eligible to represent both countries.
The Arsenal U-21 captain has previously represented England at U16, U17 and U18 levels, but is also qualified to play for Nigeria through his parentage.
Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have acted swiftly by calling up the Hale End product for a get together in preparation for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.
The NFF, buoyed by the player’s family ties with former Super Eagles captain, remains adamant Iwobi will accept the call-up.
Recently, Iwobi’s Arsenal U-21 team mate Semi Ajayi received an invitation to the Super Eagles but was unable to attend because of his club commitments whilst Chuba Akpom remains eligible to represent Nigeria at senior level despite having featured heavily for England at youth level.
The NFF have lost a good number of players to England in the recent past, most notably Ross Barkley (Everton), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) and Carlton Cole (West Ham United), and have embarked on a global search for young talents to prevent a reoccurrence.
Photo Credit: Arsenal.com