Nigeria international striker Ademola Lookman had been mandated by the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle to convince young Atalanta defender Honest Ahanor to commit his international future to the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Chelle was made aware of the progress of the 17 year old early this season, and the fact that he isn’t eligible to play for Italy despite the fact that he was born there. He has to wait until he turns 18 before he can get an Italian passport.
In a bid to take advantage of the situation, Chelle from what we exclusively gathered asked Lookman to gauge the interest of the fast growing defender in switching to Nigeria, before formally making an approach.
Ahanor has played in four Serie A games and if all goes according to plan, the idea of Chelle is for him to be a part of the AFCON where he intends to blood in a couple of youngsters particularly in defence.
Even though head coach of Italy Gennaro Gattuso confirmed he is keeping a close tab on the defender, the camp of Nigeria are confident that they will be in pole position to get his international future if they qualify for the World Cup.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
