Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham, has stated his desire to have an international career with England following reports of interest from his home-country, Nigeria.
The London-born Chelsea striker, Abraham, who is on loan at Swansea has played for England Under-21s has a Nigerian father, and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) are thought to be keen to recruiting the 19-year-old.
However, Abraham said, “I have informed The FA that I remain available for selection for England. Contrary to reports in the media I would like to clarify that I have not agreed to switch my national team allegiance.”
“I can confirm I met the President of the NFF after our last game against Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday given he is a friend of my father. However, any suggestion that I have made a decision to change my international representation is incorrect and wide of the mark.”
Swansea boss Paul Clement, who wants him to play for England said, “Hopefully he stays with the English national team. I’m not sure if he’d be better off career-wise. I’m saying it because I’m English and he’s a good English talent, so you want him involved in the national team.”
“From my point of view, there will be no influence from me. If he wants to ask for advice, of course I’ll be there to do it, but I’m sure, between him and his family, he’ll make the right decision.”
“I haven’t spoken to him about that [interest from Nigeria]. I will ask him at some point, but I’ve got more pressing issues to deal with at the moment than that,” said Clement.
“Ultimately it’s the decision of the player. In some cases they’ll make the choice because they see a better opportunity, a chance of playing more regularly at international level.
“In other cases, it’s because it’s where they believe they’re from, representing the country where they were born or where their parents were born and it’s in their culture. Whatever their reasons are, it’s down to the player to decide.”
However, NFF President Amaju Pinnick says that after a meeting with Abraham and his agent “all is looking good” for him to play for Nigeria. It would be recalled that another Chelsea player, Victor Moses, Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi and Reading striker Sone Aluko are among those to have represented England at youth level before switching to play senior international football for Nigeria.
Abraham joined Swansea from Chelsea on a season-long loan in the summer and has scored two goals in seven appearances for the Welsh club.
