February 10, (THEWILL) – FIFA has approved Leicester City winger Ademola Lookman’s bid to change nationality and play for Nigeria instead of England. The 24-year-old is on loan from RB Leipzig at the King Power Stadium, having previously played for Everton and Charlton Athletic.
Lookman has not played for England’s senior team, but he has represented the country at the Under-19, Under-20, and Under-21 levels. In 2017, he was a member of the team that won the Under-20 World Cup. Both of his parents are Nigerian, but he grew up in Peckham.
His journey is similar to that of Alex Iwobi, who declared for Nigeria after representing England at youth level in 2015, and Joe Aribo, a Camberwell native. Sone Aluko, Victor Moses, Shola Ameobi, and Ola Aina have all successfully switched to Nigerian citizenship and played for the senior team.
Questioned about the status of the switch for Lookman last November, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) chief scout Tunde Adelakun revealed: “We are aware of Lookman’s desire to play for us and I have spoken to him as well. However, there is a process to it.
“After this process, then comes the consideration and decision of the head coach (Gernot Rohr, at the time) on whether or when he deems it fit to get him involved.”
To qualify for this winter’s World Cup in Qatar, Nigeria will play Ghana in a two-legged play-off. The Super Eagles have qualified for six of the last seven World Cup tournaments. Plus, THEWILL recalls that despite a strong group stage performance, they were eliminated in the round of 16 of the recent TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, losing 1-0 to Tunisia.
Samuel Chukwueze of Villarreal, Samuel Kalu of Bordeaux, Moses Simon of Nantes, and Terem Moffi of Lorient are some of Nigeria’s alternative players in Lookman’s position though he will be a favourite to fit in.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
