According to Canada based Nigerian journalist Taiwo Adeleke, Nigeria shouldn’t be angry over the loss of Fikayo Tomori to England as much as Canada, the country he represented at youth level.
Born in Canada to parents of Nigerian descent, the defender who was raised in England is eligible for all three countries but all that will change if he gets to play for England in their next competitive game which is the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria respectively.
In an exclusive chat with Owngoalnigeria.com, Adeleke who has been in Canada since 2001 said up until 2016 Tomori was still playing for Canada at U20 level after his promotion from the U17.
Tomori who was then a youth team player for Chelsea caught the attention of England after impressing in an U20 game for Canada in a 2-1 win over England in March 2016.
His performance particularly the way he marked Marcus Rashford out of the game made the coaches of the England set up to speak with the FA about having him switch allegiance to them.
Two months later with the permission of the player the switch was done successfully and he was named in the England U19 squad in April 2016, which is two months after impressing against them.
” It’s crazy how the reaction has come more from Nigeria and not Canada that exposed him to England. He was born here and played for their U15 before making the step up to U20. It was in 2016 that he impressed in a game for Canada U20 against England by keeping Marcus Rashford at bay that alerted them of his availability “, Adeleke told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” Two months after that game Tomori accepted to switch his nationality to England and he was called up to their U20 team, same team he impressed against. So by that it’s clear to see the country that should be pained by his decision to commit to England at senior level. He didn’t represent Nigeria at any level”.
