Thomas Tuchel Snubs Nigeria-Eligible Chelsea and Arsenal Stars in England’s 23-Man Squad
- Thomas Tuchel has announced his first England squad after taking over as manager officially on January 1
- The former Chelsea boss replaced Gareth Southgate, who stepped aside after the European Championship
- There is no place for two Nigeria-eligible stars in his squad, further giving the NFF hopes of switching them
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Thomas Tuchel has released his first England national team squad, and it gives the Nigerian Football Federation hope that they can still get some players to switch their international allegiance.
The NFF have been making efforts to get players of dual nationalities to switch their international allegiance and have been successful with some and failed with others.
Source: Getty Images
Top of the success stories is Ademola Lookman, who was named the African Footballer of the Year little over two years after choosing to represent Nigeria over England.
Other successful players include captain William Troost-Ekong, former Arsenal academy graduate Alex Iwobi, Maduka Okoye and Leon Balogun.
Some others have turned down the chance and opted to play for their European countries, including Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Joshua Zirkzee.
The federation continues to intensify their efforts with players like Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri, Chelsea's Tosin Adarabioyo and Manchester United’s Chido Obi Martin on their radar.
England snubs Nwaneri and Adarabioyo
New England national team boss Tuchel has announced his first squad on X after taking over the team officially from January 1 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
He gave first call-ups to Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle United fullback Dan Burn, while there are returns for Chelsea's Reece James and on loan Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale and Ajax’s Jordan Henderson.
Legit.ng observed that there was no place for Nigeria-eligible stars Tosin Adarabioyo and Ethan Nwaneri, giving the NFF hopes that they could still switch.
Adarabioyo has been on the radar of the Super Eagles for a while now, and whenever it looks close that he could be switching, the decision over his international future gets delayed.
Nwaneri broke onto the scene at Arsenal fully this season, and the NFF are wasting no time in trying to get him to switch having represented England at youth levels.
According to UK-based Nigerian journalist Shina Oludare, the 17-year-old will represent any country that approaches him first between the country of his birth and that of his parents.
Source: Getty Images
As per an official response, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta initially hinted that Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly are on Tuchel’s radar, but eventually, only the defender got the invitation.
Tuchel failed to provide an explanation on why players were not called up, and instead focused on analysing why most of the players were invited, especially new invitees and returnees.
Getafe star denies false claims
Legit.ng reported that Getafe star Christantus Uche denied asking to be left out of the Super Eagles squad after he was dropped from Eric Chelle's final 23-man squad.
The versatile player claimed he would never turn down an opportunity to represent his country where he was born and raised under any circumstances.
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Proofreading by Jimmy Modise, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
Elijah Odetokun (Sports Editor) Elijah Odetokun is a Nigerian sports editor at Legit.ng. He has four years of working experience and holds a Bachelor of Agriculture from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and a Diploma in Freelance and Sports Writing from the London School of Journalism. Email: elijah.odetokun@sportsbrief.com
Jimmy Modise (Sports Copy editor) Jimmy is an experienced copy editor who has for just under two years as junior copy editor at Sports Brief and is still engaged in the same profession now for Legit Media and other projects. He has a Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies, has worked briefly as radio producer, intern sportswriter and copywriter in his storied journey.
