‘Forget Ighalo, it’s Nwakaeme Who Deserves Nigeria Recall’

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There’s been much excitement in the Nigerian media and among Super Eagles fans over the last 10 days at the prospect of Odion Ighalo returning to the national team.

The striker returned from international duty after winning the Golden Boot at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and was able to ride away from a somewhat underwhelming Nigeria career on a high note.

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Since then, however, his stock has climbed, with the attacker signing for Manchester United on loan in January, and then renewing his loan deal with the Red Devils to stay at the club until early 2021.

However, earlier this month, rumours of a return to the Super Eagles fold were fuelled when Ighalo told Brila FM that he was considering a comeback.

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“I am still in contact with Gernot Rohr and Amaju Pinnick, and they congratulated me on my loan deal,” the former Watford man told the local station.

“I am still thinking about returning to the national team, but right now I want to concentrate on my club career.

“I left the national team because of the distance between Nigeria and China, but now that I am in Manchester and just like life and in my career, you never can tell.”

It’s easy to see why Ighalo’s potential return gets people excited, even though there are concerns about how his return may affect the squad’s young strikers.

Should Ighalo return, it would take gametime away from the likes of Victor Osimhen, Joseph Maja, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Kalu, Cyriel Dessers, Emmanuel Dennis and David Okereke, and that may be to the detriment of their establishment as potential leading men for the West Africans.

However, while the excitement around Ighalo’s new contract at Old Trafford appears to overlook the fact that he hasn’t actually netted in four Premier League outings yet for the Red Devils, the thrill around his potential international return has taken attention away from the claims of another potential Nigeria frontman.

While Gernot Rohr has done much right in terms of his personnel decisions with the national side, the continuous overlooking of Anthony Nwakaeme remains questionable.

Certainly, the German coach has favoured youth over experience—apart from a few exempt names—and his lowering of the squad’s average age is something that is to his credit.

However, this policy has also led to the neglecting of some worthy names, of whom Nwakaeme is arguably the most notable.

. Goal.com

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