Highly rated England youth forward Tammy Abraham has dropped a big hint about his international future which has triggered a tug of war between Nigeria and England.
19 year old Abraham is with the U-21 squad of England preparing for the European Championship, but Nigeria have not given up hope of luring him to play for the senior national team with president Amaju Pinnick using his close ties to the boy’s father to convince him to switch allegiance to Nigeria.
Reports in some Nigerian media has it that he will decide on continuing with England or switching allegiance to Nigeria after the European Championship, but his comments from the training camp of England suggest he has made up his mind on sticking with England.
‘The boys (in Korea) did the country so proud and we’d love to follow in their footsteps by winning the Euros,’ said Abraham.
‘We want to show we are the next up and coming players for the England squad, so there is a bit of pressure on us. We can’t have them bragging they won and we didn’t!
‘Yes it was bittersweet (watching), it’s true. It’s a great achievement. I’m sure they’re proud of themselves. The whole country is proud of them. They deserved to win it. But I’m here to win the Euros and we’ve got a lot of good players so we’re in with a chance.
‘You could say that (I felt envious). But obviously the Under 21s is a massive thing. Would it make up for it, winning this? Definitely. Hopefully what I have done all season can pay off and we will win the tournament.’
Michael James
