Tammy Abraham is embarking on his first season in the Premier League, but a major career decision lies ahead. Nigeria hope he will play for the Super Eagles in international competition instead of the Three Lions.
Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham is on a season-long loan at Swansea City, and is being targeted by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as a potential new recruit. The London-born striker has played for England up to the U-21’s, but would qualify to play for Nigeria through his father.
NFF president Amaju Pinnick, who grew up with Abraham’s father in Nigeria, is hoping that their friendship will help seal the deal for the 19-year old’s international footballing services. As Abraham has not yet appeared at senior level, the door is still open for him to swap allegiances.
"We are working on getting Abraham. Tammy is like my son, his father and I grew up in the same neighbourhood. – BBC"
This is not the first time the NFF have approached Abraham and his dad. The Federation spoke to them in July 2016 to sound them out on the prospect. At the time, father and son felt the youngster’s focus should be with England. Nigeria’s UK chief David Doherty said of the meeting:
"We spoke to his dad, met with him and his dad. The chances are that in future he could play for Nigeria if England Three Lions is not certain. But for now he is in tune with England, the option is open. – All Nigeria Soccer"
Abraham has a big decision to make. Should he chose Nigeria over England, he would not be the first Chelsea player to make the swap. Nigeria have a record of success when it comes to claiming potential England stars for their own. Victor Moses and more recently Ola Aina have both made the switch. Abraham will need to consider several options before making up his mind.
His first consideration should be how likely he is to play. The Super Eagles’ current strikers include Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa, both of Leicester City. Musa is the more experienced of the two, having played 62 games and scored 13 goals. Iheanacho, who has a much better goal-to-game ratio, is the future. He has played only 11 games, scoring six goals.
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Domestically, Abraham is getting Premier League game time on loan under the stewardship of former Chelsea coach Paul Clement. Musa and Iheanacho are behind Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki in the pecking order at Leicester and struggling for game time.
Should he chose to switch, with the experience that he is currently gaining Abraham would be able to command a place in Nigeria’s starting XI. Next, he has to think about how likely he is to get into the England team. There is no question he would make the squad, but would he be anything more than a bench-warmer?
England’s incumbents are Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Abraham’s nearest rival in terms of age, Marcus Rashford. Abraham would challenge to replace an aging Vardy and the injury prone Sturridge and Welbeck. He may, however, struggle to oust Kane and Rashford right now. In time, if he continues on his current trajectory, he has every chance of making an impact in a team that has struggled to achieve anything in recent years.
The last consideration comes down to silverware. Either option gives him the opportunity of a major trophy every two years. He would compete in the World Cup with either of the two, the Euros with England or the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria. His chances of picking up a trophy with England are at best slim. With Nigeria, the AFCON is almost a certainty at some point. As for the World Cup, neither side has come that close to winning the trophy recently.
NFF President Amaju Pinnick thinks his country are in the ascendancy, though.
"You take a first look at the [Nigeria] team and you see players like William Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Leon Balogun, Iwobi, Chidozie Awaziem, Tyronne Ebuehi, Kelechi Iheanacho and now we have Aina as well. I believe we are so blessed and that this team will cause a big stir in Russia, and if not in Russia, in Qatar in five years’ time. – BBC"
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Whether Abraham earns that level of positivity from anyone in the England set-up remains to be seen. Wherever he ends up playing, that country will have a player who has scored goals at every level he has played.