Former Nigeria international Emmanuel Okocha has revealed that his nephew, Arsenal’s man of the moment Alex Iwobi, will not turn his back on Nigeria, amid reports in the British press that he has been approached by the FA to represent England in competitive games.
The 19-year-old Iwobi has 11 caps in total for the youth teams of England, all of them in non-competitive fixtures, and has played two friendlies for Nigeria, meaning there is still a window open for him to change his mind and represent England as things stand.
“Iwobi is here in Nigeria for the match against Egypt, so hopefully if he plays a part, he can no longer play for England, that will be it,” said Emmanuel Okocha to nigeriasoccernet.com.
“He wants to play for Nigeria and that is why he is here.”
Iwobi trained with Nigeria’s Olympic National Team a year ago but could not make his competitive debut against Gabon in an All Africa Games qualifier because there were uncertainties regarding if he needed approval from Fifa before switching his international allegiance.
The offensive all-rounder netted his first senior goal for the Gunners last weekend against the Toffees.