Champions League winner with Marseille in 1993, Jean-Philippe Durand, who is currently a top scout for Eintracht Frankfurt, has explained why the German Bundesliga side opted against making moves for Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze after starring at the U17 World Cup.

Iheanacho was the standout player for the Nigeria side that won the 2013 U17 World Cup and two years later, Osimhen became the highest goalscorer in a single tournament with ten goals to his name.

Chukwueze also had an impressive tournament in 2015, winning the Bronze Boot after scoring three goals and setting up three others.

"At this time of course they (Iheanacho, Osimhen and Chukwueze) are top players. In Germany it is not frequent clubs sign players directly from Africa. They prefer to sign from Europe," Durand said to allnigeriasoccer.com.

"I think the mentality has started to change regarding the situation in Germany . A club like Leipzig who is working with Salzburg with many African players.

"Taiwo Awoniyi scoring fifteen goals in the Bundesliga is good and Union Berlin finished in a good position in the table."

Though retired Nigeria international Austin Okocha is one of the greatest African players to grace the German Bundesliga, Durand, a former France international who also played for Bordeaux, preferred to talk about the midfielder's exploits in the Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain.

"He played in Paris and did well. He is a fantastic player, very technical and with the capacity to make good decisions on his own," he added.

 Durand concluded by sharing his thoughts on the Europa League final won by his employers Frankfurt after they saw off a Rangers team with three Nigeria internationals in their ranks.

"It was tough and a surprise for Eintracht Frankfurt to win the Cup because it's a tough competition with big clubs.

"We saw Leipzig, Dortmund, Barcelona, Sevilla and many big teams. It was a great performance.

"We were very disappointed regarding our place in the Bundesliga and we had the opportunity to win the Europa Cup and to be directly in the group for the Champions League next season, very good for the club."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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Ifeanyi Emmanuel