Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi has given up his chances to play for England and has instead decided to accept a call-up to play for Nigeria, as reported by The Express.
Although the 19-year-old was born in Nigeria, he has represented England at under-16, 17 and 18s, but he has now decided to play for the country of his birth at the full international level.
Nigeria play friendlies against DR Congo and Cameroon next month, and Iwobi will be in the squad for both games.
He will follow in the footsteps of his uncle Jay-Jay Okocha, who represented Nigeria with distinction throughout his playing career.
Iwobi was on the bench for Wednesday’s Capital One Cup victory over Tottenham and has yet to feature for the first team this season.
However, he has played in four U21 Premier League matches and scored on his last outing as Arsenal U21s defeated Newcastle U21s 2-1.
It appears that Nigeria are looking to recruit young English players of Nigerian descent. Only recently, they offered Liverpool’s Jordon Ibe the chance to play for them, but he chose to decline the offer and focus on playing for England in the future.
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