NFF president speaks on England’s interest on youngster

Iwobi was born in Lagos, Nigeria but moved to England at an early age and represented them at the U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels.

Despite playing for the Super Eagles in two friendly game, the English FA reportedly tied poaching him a following his good form for Arsenal.

He however rejected the reported interest from England to make his Super Eagles competitive debut on Friday, March 25 in a 1-1 draw with Egypt.

Speaking about the interest vice-president,  Dikko said they were not worried because they knew Iwobi’s heart was set for just Nigeria.

“Thankfully the issue is now closed as Iwobi has made his officials debut and indeed he was very brilliant and committed in the minutes he played against Egypt in Kaduna and almost assisted for what could have been a second goal for Nigeria, if not for the goal-line clearance by the Egyptian defender,” Dikko told KingFut.

The Super Eagles were knocked out of the race to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nationsafter a 1-0 loss to Egypt on Tuesday, March 29.

Iwobi came in later for the Super Eagles in that game and Dikko said the 19-year-old was ‘utterly disgusted like all the other players that Nigeria didn’t win the match.

“This clearly showed his passion and believe in the course. Indeed, Iwobi is a perfect example to all other Nigerian-born players based abroad with the way he and his family practically pushed for him to play for Nigeria,” Dikko added.

The NFF vice-president also regretted other Nigerian born players like Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Ross Barkley of Everton and Liverpool ace Jordan Ibe.

“The NFF have no plans of making more mistakes in the future,” Dikko said.