The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has revealed the pursuit of midfielder Ebere Eze may be put on hold with the Federation set to focus more on players in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Eze, one of the star players in the English Championship this season, is being monitored by the NFF over the possibility of playing for the Super Eagles.
With 10 goals in 26 league appearances for Queen’s Park Rangers (QPR) so far, the talented midfielder has been compared to former Super Eagles captain Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha in terms of his creative acumen with the ball.
Born in England, Eze has played for the Three Lions youth teams, but he is eligible to play for Nigeria through his parents. The NFF president, Amaju Pinnick had met with Eze in November to discuss his international future.
However, with the NFF now trying to involve more domestic players in the Super Eagles squad, plans to convince Eze to switch international allegiance may be put on hold.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Soccernet.ng, an NFF source said the Federation’s immediate plan is to give more NPFL players a chance to stake a claim in the Super Eagles squad, and that could affect the pursuit of Eze for the moment.
“There is no doubt that Ebere Eze has been doing well with Queen’s Park Rangers in the Championship in England. He’s a quality player that will add more value to the Super Eagles if, given the opportunity to represent Nigeria,” the NFF source told Soccernet.ng.
“But with the continued insistence on the inclusion of the players of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) in the Super Eagles by the federation, this may slow down the need to convince Eze to play for Nigeria,” he added.
