Despite being a World Cup winner with England, Everton’s Ademola Lookman continues to be aggressively pursued by the Nigerian FA in an attempt to try and get him to switch his international allegiance.
Lookman , who made an impressive return to action for the Blues on Sunday, coming off the bench to provide the assist for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s crucial first goal in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, has been on the Super Eagles’ radar for some time.
Born in Wandsworth, south London, he was part of the England team that won the Under-20 World Cup final against Venezuela in South Korea last year and netted three times throughout the tournament.
Now part of the Three Lions’ U21 set-up, Lookman recently credited coach Aidy Boothroyd for providing the home truths necessary for him to regain his focus after he was left unsettled by summer transfer speculation over a proposed move to Bundesliga side RB Leipzig where he spent the second half of last season on loan.
While the player, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday , is now getting back on an even keel with his club though, he seemingly appears to remain in a tug of war over his services at international level.
Despite boasting a population of over 193million making it the largest country in Africa, Nigeria continue to look towards the overseas diaspora of eligible players and Lookman qualifies given that his parents were born there.
He turned down an opportunity from Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr to make the switch in early 2017 but like the Leipzig officials who openly courted him this summer, the German is continuing his relentless chase.
Rohr told Sporting Life: “Lookman is on our list. He is a good player and very fast too.
“I would be happy if he can show enough interest to join the Eagles because we will have many options in the attack of the team. He would be exciting playing alongside Ighalo.
“I am aware that the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) is working out something but you know that Lookman has played for England’s U19, U20 and U21 so there are processes to be done to make him eligible to play for us.
“Lookman also has to decide on time because the NFF has to process his authorisation from FIFA. He must also prove that he is better than the players already in the team.”
Source; Liverpool Echo