Football officials in England are reportedly making frenetic moves to stop Manchester City’s fast-rising defender, Tosin Adarabioyo from playing for Nigeria.
The highly-rated and vastly promising central defender has represented England juniors all the way up to Under-19 level and is being tipped for senior international honours with The Three Lions.
However, this is coming in contrast with hopes of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which has in recent years recorded some level of success in wooing players of the country’s descent to return home to play for the Super Eagles.
Nigeria successfully persuaded Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi, who both played for England at junior level, to change their international allegiance in recent years, but the NFF may have to work harder to get Adarabioyo.
Incidentally, the 20-year-old Adarabioyo was initially made available for loan by City during the final 48 hours of the transfer window following the signing of Aymeric Laporte.
However, a deal failed to materialise and the youngster was promptly named on the bench by Pep Guardiola for City’s win over West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night.
The Super Eagles had planned to watch Adarabioyo play sustained senior football before deciding whether to tempt him with a place in their World Cup squad.
