Chelsea Defender, Ola Aina set to dump England for Nigeria
According to goal.com, Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has held talks with the youngster over the possibility of playing for the country of his parents’ birth.
Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina was born in London and has made dozens of appearances for England at youth level, but a lack of appearances at Chelsea is hindering his chances of further progress.
The 20-year-old has left himself out of the picture for England’s Under-21s team while he makes a decision on who to represent at international level.
Although a definitive decision has yet to be made by Aina, talks have been ongoing between Nigeria and the player for months.
The Super Eagles’ head coach Rohr was asked to clarify his intentions concerning Aina after his side’s 1-1 draw with Senegal on Thursday.
“It is normal to have this situation, when we have very good player [like Ola Aina] who can pick two teams,” Rohr said in response to Goal. “We always leave the door open to young talent.”
Aina was in attendance at the match with his family at Barnet FC’s The Hive Stadium and he was seen cheering on Nigeria, as Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho equalised, after an earlier Moussa Sow strike put Senegal ahead.
Ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel admitted back in October that he has been trying to convince Aina to swap England for Nigeria as the pair trained together on the fringes of Antonio Conte’s first-team squad.
Aina only made his Chelsea debut in August against Bristol City after signing a new deal over the summer. However, he has since gone on to only add two starts and four more appearances since then.
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