The dream of Ike Ugbo to represent Nigeria at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will receive a big boost by the time he completes his proposed transfer to Ligue 1 side Marseille.
Ugbo was widely expected to join Belgium side Genk who have agreed a fee of around £3 million for his signing from Chelsea, but the move took a bizarre twist when he got an offer from Ligue 1 side Marseille.
Marseille matched the fee Genk were willing to pay Chelsea and even offered him a better pay package than what the Belgians gave him. He is now widely expected to join the Ligue 1 side instead.
His desire is to make the World Cup squad of the senior national team of Nigeria following his decision to switch international allegiance to the West African country. The move to Ligue 1 ahead of the Belgium league is seen as a step in the right direction.
In 2018 he met with the Nigerian team in London during the preparations for the World Cup and even watched the pre World Cup friendly game against Serbia live at the stadium.
Early this year he confirmed his desire to be a path of the Nigerian team to the World Cup in 2022, a dream which he said will fuel the remaining of his club decision in the future.
In 2018, Ugbo told Het Laatste Nieuws: “The paperwork is not quite in order yet to play for Nigeria but my agent is working on it. Playing a World Cup is every footballer’s dream, isn’t it?”
