Werder Bremen defender Felix Agu has been rumoured to be one of the players in Eric Chelle's final 28-man squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Germany-born defender switched allegiance from Germany to Nigeria earlier this year, and then secured his maiden call-up to the national team in June for the Unity Cup.
Agu was one of the most impressive players during the tournament and apparently made a strong impression on coach Eric Chelle.
The 26-year-old was subsequently called up to Nigeria's squad for the World Cup Qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa in September, though he watched both games from the bench.
He was expected to be called up for the final round of World Cup Qualifiers in October, but he suffered an injury in Werder Bremen's Bundesliga game against St. Pauli on October 4.
After the prognosis, he had to undergo surgery and was predicted to spend at least three months on the sidelines.
Surprisingly, he was nonetheless named in Eric Chelle's 55-man provisional squad for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
However, in a follow-up piece, Soccernet.ng highlighted him as one of the players who would not make the final squad for the tournament.
But on Wednesday, reports emerged that Agu will be named in Nigeria's final squad for the 2025 AFCON. Additionally, a video of compatriot Victor Boniface wishing him success with the Super Eagles emerged on social media.
Super Eagles: Can Felix Agu Really Make 2025 AFCON?
In earlier reports, Soccernet.ng noted that it was almost impossible for Felix Agu to play for the Super Eagles in AFCON 2025. That stance remains unchanged.
The major reason for this is that Werder Bremen shared information about their training session on Wednesday, and it was revealed that Agu was still undergoing rehabilitation and had not started training yet.
In fact, in the video that Victor Boniface shared, a physiotherapist was clearly working on Agu's leg. It is also clear that the Super Eagles star was wearing a brace on his left ankle, where he suffered his injury.
Victor Boniface wishing his club mate, Felix Agu all the best at the AFCON. pic.twitter.com/pXwQJFnhcE
— @ (@OneJoblessBoy) December 10, 2025
Typically, when a player is recovering from an injury, he has to undergo physiotherapy and gym work, after which he starts individual training. After all these steps, the player then joins his teammates to reach fitness.
These processes take anywhere from weeks to months before the player is finally ready to start playing actively in games.
In Agu's case, he is still undergoing physiotherapy and has not even started individual training on the pitch. Meanwhile it is important to note that the AFCON is ten days away.
Therefore, if Agu does make the squad, he will go as an unfit player. This would be surprising, considering there are other fit and available players like Zaidu Sanusi and Bruno Onyemaechi in his position.
He might be dressed for the games, but for sure, he won't participate at all in the first four rounds of games at least. And if he does, he won't play as a fully fit player. In fact, it will be extremely meager minutes, so as to prevent a reoccurrence.
Super Eagles coach Chelle will reveal his squad for the 2025 AFCON soon, and it will be interesting to see if he goes on to take an unfit player, when there are players who are fully fit.
Or perhaps, the Super Eagles medical team will be able to perform some magic to get Agu ready to play as soon as possible.
