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Former Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo has defended Super Eagles head coach Chelle after criticism of his decision to include five NPFL players in Nigeria’s provisional 55-man squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Footynaija.com reports.
The selected home-based players are goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt, defender Adekunle Adeleke, and attackers Abdulrasheed Shehu, Ekeson Okorie and Chisom Orji. Only Harcourt featured in the CHAN squad that exited in the group stage.
Omeruo said Chelle’s choices are not the problem. Instead, he argued that NPFL players must adopt a stronger competitive mindset when invited to the national team.
“Most of the players who come to the national team from the local leagues now, they just come to complete the team, to train. They don’t compete,” he told Brila.
He added that home-based players must arrive with belief and ambition: “You have to come into the national team with the confidence that you want to be selected in games.”
He also highlighted the Unity Cup in London, noting that several NPFL players used the tournament to secure moves abroad.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali remains the only former NPFL player established in the Super Eagles. None of the five NPFL players in the provisional squad is expected to make the final 28.
Nigeria, seeking a fourth AFCON title, are grouped with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania.
