Lot of Nigerians have been asking about the identity of fast rising FC Basel defender Manuel Akanji especially regarding the prospect of playing for the senior national team of Nigeria.
The questions were very much mentioned on Wednesday when he starred for Basle against Manchester United in their 1-0 win over the English giants in the UEFA Champions League.
That said the 22 year old although a Nigerian through his father is no longer eligible to play for the West African nation as he has already made his competitive debut for the senior national team of Switzerland.
Voted as the best young player in 2017 at the annual Swiss footbal awards , same year he made his debut for the senior team of Switzerland, Akanji said playing for Nigeria was never an option even though he confirmed his father hails from the land of the Super Eagles.
The defender who said his dream is to play at the World Cup for Switzerland and also represent Manchester United at club level however suggested that he was never contacted by Nigeria.
” Not that I’ve heard. Switzerland made an effort to keep me, so it was crystal clear that I would play here”, he answered when asked if he was contacted by Nigeria before he played for Switzerland in an interview with www.credit-suisse.com.
Osas Mahawi
