Nigeria Gain Advantage Over England in Pursuit of 2 Arsenal Academy Products’ Future
- Nigeria have gained an advantage over England in the pursuit of two footballers eligible for both countries
- The Nigeria Football Federation have been working to secure the international future of foreign-born players
- Ademola Lookman is the biggest success story, winning the African Best two years after switching his allegiance
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The Nigeria Football Federation appears to have gained an advantage over the England FA in the battle over the international future of two players eligible for both countries.
NFF have been in the active pursuit of many foreign-born players who are eligible to play for Nigeria as the federation work to improve the quality of the national teams.
Source: Twitter
Ademola Lookman, captain William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi, Leon Balogun, and Maduka Okoye, amongst others, have successfully committed to playing for Nigeria.
Lookman has so far given the federation bragging rights after winning the 2024 CAF Men's Player of the Year two years after switching his international allegiance.
A few other players have turned down the NFF and opted to play for their other countries, including Bukayo Saka, Joshua Zirkzee, Fikayo Tomori, Eberechi Eze and Tammy Abraham.
The pool of such players is endless, and the battle to win the allegiance of the best of them will continue, worth many Nigerian youngsters coming through the ranks at English clubs.
Nigeria gain advantage over England
The current battle between Nigeria and England is over two brothers and Arsenal's Hale End academy products Brandon and Andre Harriman-Annous.
Both players have the luxury of playing for four countries: England, Nigeria, Ghana and Lebanon, but the discussions around them are between the first two.
“I grew up in Barnet, and I started playing football in the park when I was four. My family background is African. My mum is from Nigeria and my dad is Ghanaian,” Andre confirmed his background arsenal.com.
According to All Nigeria Soccer, Brandon has decided to play for Nigeria and is expected to join the Flying Eagles ahead of the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile if they qualify.
Andre’s decision is still open. He was left out of the Young Lions squad for the March international break, even though he was reportedly named on the standby list.
Source: Getty Images
According to arsenal.com, Brandon was at Hale End until U14 before he was released. He joined Hull City, where he has been in impressive form this season, winning the club's February goal of the month with his strike against Coventry U21s.
Andre is still with the Gunners youth teams and could earn a senior call-up soon, following in the footsteps of prodigies Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, having trained with Mikel Arteta’s side a couple of times this season.
3 players NFF can convince
Legit.ng previously analysed three foreign-born players NFF can convince to help the Nigerian national team in their quest to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Super Eagles are in a difficult position in Group C of the qualifying series and need to win their remaining four matches to stand any chance of qualifying.
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Source: Legit.ng
