Enlgand appears to be winning the tug of war with Nigeria over Jordon Ibe’s services. In fact, the Three Lions already might have won.
Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh said Sunday on Twitter that Ibe is leaning toward playing for England over the Super Eagles. Ibe is drawing interest from both countries following his promise-filled performances for Liverpool in 2015.
Ibe, 19, is eligible to play for England because he was born there. Nigeria is the country of his father’s birth.
Ibe has played for England’s youth national teams from U-18 through the U-21 level. He represented England’s U-21s for the first time earlier this month, and some are speculating England manager Roy Hodgson might call up Ibe to the senior team for next month’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania.
Hodgson said he’s tracking Ibe but won’t fast-track the Liverpool winger just for the sake of keeping him out of Nigeria’s clutches.
“He is someone we have been looking at,” Hodgson said about Ibe, according to the Liverpool Echo. “I want Jordon to fight for his place in the team, like everyone else, but he is certainly a player we like very much, one who we have our eyes on, and no (it’s) far from impossible that he gets called up in one of the next games.”
“If he wants to break into our team, he will have to keep doing well for Liverpool and maybe keep doing well for the Under-21s and wait his chance. But if you are asking me does he have the potential and ability? Absolutely, 100 percent.”
The struggle for Ibe’s international future should play out publicly in the coming weeks and months, but England looks to be the safer bet than Nigeria to win.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@TeleFootball
