The Super Eagles trainer doesn’t want his squad to be distracted by the futures of the young Premier League stars. Nigeria coach Gerno...
The Super Eagles trainer doesn’t want his squad to be distracted by the futures of the young Premier League stars.
Nigeria
coach Gernot Rohr is choosing to respect Fikayo Tomori and Tammy
Abraham’s wishes of not opting to represent the Super Eagles at the
moment.
The Chelsea duo, who are also eligible to represent England, aren’t
looking to commit to the West African nation at the present time.
"They are both interesting players, but we have made our immediate plans without Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori," Rohr told BBC Sport.
"They are not interested in discussing their international options at the moment and we need to respect that."
Abraham has been capped twice by England, in friendlies against
Germany and Brazil in November 2017, but could still play for Nigeria
having never represented the Three Lions in any competitive fixture.
Tomori, on the other hand, hasn’t been capped by the senior team
but has played for the England U21’s 15 times. He is also eligible to
play for Canada.
Gareth Southgate’s side plays the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in
World Cup qualifiers on October 11 and 14, respectively, and an
appearance for either player would rule out the possibility of
representing the three-time African champions.
"It is also significant to note that Abraham has been assured that he will be in the England squad," Rohr added.
"Tomori is a very good friend of our player Ola Aina (former
Chelsea and England youth international) and he said he does not want to
discuss this for now.
"We have to focus on what we have and not lose focus about what people say all the time."
Gernot Rohr’s Nigeria side faces Brazil in a high-profile friendly in Singapore on October 13.
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