Crystal Palace midfielder Micheal Olise has shut down any potential option of switching nationality to the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.
Olise was invited to the senior national team of Nigeria by former coach Gernot Rohr for the AFCON qualifiers in March 2021, but placed on standby due to issues bothering on getting a Nigerian passport.
He was 19 year old when he got the call up and playing in the English championship for Reading. He has since established himself as one of the stars of Crystal Palace in the English Premier League putting himself on the radar of several teams in England and Europe at large.
In a report on the Athletic about his international future, it was clearly stated that he has his sights on breaking into the French team for the Euros, and not even the option of playing for England appeals to him at the moment. He is presently a member of the U21 of France.
No mention of playing for Nigeria in the article, which had quotes from a source who is reportedly very close to the 22 year old, who has seven goals and four assists in what has been an injury hit campaign for him limiting his involvement to just 17 games this season.
The section of the article read thus:
“Although also eligible for England, any possibility of representing them is not on Olise’s mind: he is fully focused on France. There is also a possibility that playing for France will open up more of the world for him when he leaves Palace. Alongside Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain would be the calibre of club for whom he would like to play one day”.
