Ajax striker Chuba Akpom is patiently waiting for his chance to represent Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Soccernet.football reports.
Akpom, who was born in London to Nigerian parents, is eligible to turn out for the Super Eagles despite representing England at youth level early on in his career.
The 29-year-old switched allegiance from England to Nigeria as far back as 2019 but the former Arsenal youth team player has yet to receive an invitation to the Nigerian men’s national team setup.
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Asked by Nigerian sport journalist Oma Akatugba about his situation with the Nigeria national team, Akpom responded; “I don’t have a clue, maybe because there are a lot of top strikers of course.
“But I think that for the nation to progress, it needs to be on merit. The players that are performing well need to be selected.
“I try to give 100%. I’ve been waiting since 2019. I’ve switched allegiances a long time ago but if it happens, it happens, I’ll just keep working hard.”
The striker also addressed the common notion that players who switch their allegiance from European countries to Nigeria do so because of their inability to play for those countries.
“It’s not that the players are switching over because they can’t play for England, it’s just that they’ve not had the opportunity to play for Nigeria from a young age.
“They play in England and they play for England from youth levels all the way up.
“I’m a Nigeria boy so obviously, I would love to play for Nigeria but I haven’t just had the opportunity.”
Akpom has made 67 appearances for Ajax since joining from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2023. In that time he has registered 23 goals and 4 assists.
