Former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has opened up on what stopped Arsenal attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze from playing for the Super Eagles. 

The Queens Park Rangers academy graduate is now cap-tied to his country of birth, England and was a member of the Three Lions squad to the 2024 European Championship.

Nigeria made an early move for Eze in March 2017 by calling him up to train with the Super Eagles ahead of a friendly with Burkina Faso, only for the match to be called off, denying the three-time African champions the chance to cap him.

Pinnick championed the recruitment of dual-national players while in charge of the NFF, with Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Joe Aribo, Semi Ajayi and Josh Maja all opting to represent Nigeria over England.

His pursuit of Eze intensified in the weeks leading up to the 2022 World Cup playoff against Ghana's Black Stars, with the football administrator arranging a discreet, face-to-face meeting with the Crystal Palace star at his London home.

The Arsenal star was on the verge of committing his international future to the Super Eagles before administrative changes at the federation stalled the process, with discussions going beyond formalities to include extensive personal engagement with the player and his family.

Speaking on ThePlayzone and Dangolo Way podcast, Pinnick explained: "Eberechi Eze came, we had a long discussion. I met the dad, we had a long and very beautiful discussion and he had agreed.

"The sister manages him. They came to my flat, we had agreed, putting all the documentations and he said we should hold on and that was it. Elections came and I left the NFF.

"Very positively. Eberechi Eze, trust me, he loves Nigeria, he actually did. I was going through my messages with him at some point."