Head coach of the senior national team of Italy Gennaro Gattuso has explained the reason why 17 year old Honest Ahanor wasn’t in his list of players called up for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Estonia and Israel respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Ahanor has emerged as the breakout star of the new Serie A season with top notch performances for Atalanta in the Serie A as well as the UEFA Champions League. He joined the team in the summer from fellow Serie A side Genoa, where he made his debut as a 16 year old.
Born to Nigerian parents in Italy, he was largely expected to be in the Italian team for the games with Gattuso keen on bringing in young players to start a new era for the Italian team under his leadership as coach.
He was asked about the absence of the defender and he explained that Ahanor can only play for Nigeria now, because he is yet to be issued an Italian passport. A situation which can only be resolved when he turns 18 per Italian laws for immigrants.
However there is no fear that he will consider playing for Nigeria as he has already given his words to Gattuso that his international future lies with Italy, despite not getting capped at any level yet.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
