“Fair Play to them” – Ex-Middlesbrough star admits Lookman and Saka made the best International career choices

Former Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi, has praised Ademola Lookman and Bukayo Saka for making the right decision regarding their International careers, Soccernet.ng reports.

Lookman and Saka have similar stories. Both have Nigerian parents who gave birth to them in London, and they both represented England at the youth level before Lookman opted to play for the Super Eagles in 2022, while Saka continued his journey to the top with the Three Lions.

In the last few months, Mikel has been pointing fingers at players who wait until they're declining in their career to represent Nigeria, and he vehemently kicked against the act.

However, the ex-Middlesbrough man praised the Atalanta forward and Saka, claiming their separate decisions worked out for them.

“I genuinely think players should not wait until they're very old to represent their African roots. You have to make a decision. We want the best players to represent us, to play at the AFCON, and to represent Africa.

I think Saka got a call up, but he's being himself, an amazing footballer. He made the right decision of wanting to play for England and now he's one of the players in the squad. So, fair play to him. I also think Ademola Lookman made the right decision to switch quickly to represent Nigeria, and he's done really well. He played well last season and he's such a fantastic player,” the 2013 AFCON-winning midfielder said on punditry duties with BeIN Sports.

Lookman is a leading candidate for the prestigious CAF Player of the Year Award, while Saka had an outstanding summer with England, leading Southgate's team to the EURO 2024 final.