Liverpool-owned midfielder, Ovie Ejaria is still awaiting clearance from world football’s governing body, FIFA to play for the Super Eagles.
The former Arsenal youth-teamer was a member of the England squad packed with star-studded players such as Dominic Solanke, Fikayo Tomori, Ademola Lookman and Josh Onomah that won the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, but had now opted to switch his allegiance from England to Nigeria, following a lack of opportunities at U-21 level.
Ejaria always had Nigeria in his heart and desperately wanted to play for the Golden Eaglets at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, but coach Manu Garba opted not to take the player to the United Arab Emirates because he was not impressed with his physical attributes as at that time.
“Ovie Ejaria hasn’t been cleared by FIFA, he has started the process though, but not yet through,” one of Gernot Rohr’s assistants told allnigeriasoccer.com.
“We have passed all the information to the Nigerian Football Federation and the body will take it up from there. Processing of the paperwork is an administrative issue not a technical one.”
Ejaria is currently on loan at Championship outfit, Reading, for whom he had made 32 appearances in the second-tier and has three goals to his name.