Four players who were initially picked by head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle for the upcoming Unity Cup friendly tournament, and the high profile friendlies against Poland and Portugal respectively were dropped before the list was made public yesterday, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Injuries and incoming transfers was cited by Chelle as the reason behind his decision to leave them out of the team, although it was their wish and the coach respected it with no malice.
“At this time, this is difficult because for these games against Poland and Portugal, players are on holiday.
“They have spent a year playing, some have minor injuries, transfers and they need to rest, so it will depend on how they feel,” said Chelle in an interview with TVC.
Top of the list is David Ozoh of Crystal Palace who recently returned from a successful loan spell with Derby County in the English Championship. He requested to be left out to sort his club future.
Back at Palace, he is a target of a host of teams, and will want to use the period of the games to hold talks with Palace with his mind set on an exit. He will meet with head coach Eric Chelle in London during the Unity Cup.
Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Alebiosu also requested to be left out and will use the period to complete his recovery, and also look at options available for him in the summer transfer window.
Bayer Leverkusen winger Nathan Tella was a shoe in option and already held talks with Chelle, but he is presently sidelined with a knock that brought his season to a premature end in Germany.
It’s the same for Felix Agu, although he is back fit but hasn’t played any game in three weeks with the club managing his load as he only recently returned from a lengthy lay off.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
