Nigeria Set to Lose Tammy Abraham to England This Week

Nigeria Set to Lose Tammy Abraham to England This Week

Femi Solaja with agency report

The prospect of Chelsea teenage forward, Tammy Abraham to play for Super Eagles may have been dashed going by the reports that the Nigerian- born striker may have accepted the offer to play for England after all.

The Three Lions will next week be involved in Euro qualifying tournament and reports by UK’s Sportsmail indicate that he is set to accept an England call if he is selected in Gareth Southgate’s next squad – dashing Nigeria’s hopes of securing the striker’s international future.

It is understood that the Football Association have requested Abraham’s medical records from Chelsea which is a clear indication that he is under serious consideration for this month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

THISDAY learnt that England Manager, Southgate will announce his squad tomorrow (Thursday), and with Abraham’s excellent start to the season with Chelsea is tipped to get a recall to the Three Lions.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick had tried to lure the teenage striker to play for Super Eagles at the last World Cup finals in Russia but the plan did not work.

Abraham, 22, who has two friendly caps for England, had left doors open on his international allegiance since he was yet to be capped in a tournament for England. It was this window in line with FIFA rules that Nigeria tried to exploit to convince him to play for the country of his birth.

However, fresh facts out of Stamford Bridge indicate that Abraham has made up his mind to answer the England call if he is picked by Southgate this week, the Mail reported yesterday.

Abraham would not be able to switch to Nigeria once he features for England in the forthcoming games against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria because they are competitive fixtures.

The Blues striker has netted seven goals in the Premier League this season, which makes him the highest scoring Englishman in the top flight.

Following England’s recent win over Kosovo, Southgate revealed that Abraham was firmly on his radar.

There are doubts over the form of Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli should Southgate decide to make space for an extra striker by dropping a midfielder.

Nigeria is also interested in poaching Abraham’s club team-mate Fikayo Tomori, who has represented England and Canada at youth level.

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