The former Burkina Faso manager has hinted it’ll take players with exceptional talents to break into his current Super Eagles squad.
Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr says he has held talks with some potential new players like Ebere Eze and Ovie Ejaria.
But the 66-year-old tactician insists anybody coming in will have to be better than the present players in the current team.
Since he took over in 2016, Rohr has created a team with a mixture of both youth and experience. Over the years also, he has been able to convince players Nigerian stars with dual nationality to switch international allegiance to the Super Eagles.
Players like Joe Aribo, Semi Ajayi, Maduka Okoye and recently, Cyriel Dessers are all players born outside the country but decided to represent Nigeria.
Recently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are trying to convince the likes of Ebere Eze and Ovie Ejaria to commit their international futures to Nigeria.
At the same time, RB Leipzig’s Ademola Lookman and Hertha Berlin’s Jordan Torunarigha are players that could also represent the Super Eagles
While Rohr has met with some of them, the former Bordeaux manager insists any player coming in will have to be better than the current crop.
“I have spent the time before the lockdown seeing players, Rohr said in an interview with ESPN’s Colin Udoh.
I have met with Ebere Eze, Ovie Ejaria and Kingsley Ehizibue. I also made contact with Jordan Torunarigha, Ademola Lookman but could not see them. Phillip Billing also but his situation is complex.
“I have also watched videos of Chidera Ejuke and Joe Aribo. There is a list of 14 potentials for the Super Eagles, and we have a database of around 95 players that we keep information on, and we invite players to the Super Eagles based on what the squad needs.”
We cannot invite everybody. We are working on passports for two players (Dessers and Ehizibue). The first criterion is, however, player quality. Anyone coming in must be better than who we already have.
