Carl Ikeme Should Borrow A Page From Ivory Coast: Five English Based Goalkeepers To Recommend To Rohr

Published: October 24, 2018

Carl Ikeme has been given the mandate by the Nigeria Football Federation and manager Gernot Rohr to assist the technical crew find new goalkeepers for the national team.

The retired Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper may want to borrow a page from Ivory Coast National Team coach Ibrahim Kamara, who was brave enough to hand a call-up to the 17-year-old Chelsea youth team goalkeeper Nicolas Tie for the recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Central African Republic.

The standard of the U18 Premier League and Premier League 2 is quite high, with England winning the 2017 FIFA U17 and U20 World Cups.

Here are five young goalkeepers on the books of English clubs Ikeme should keep an eye on :

1) Arthur Okonkwo (Arsenal) : Turned 17 in September and has caps for England U15, U16 and U17 national teams. The young goalkeeper's stock continues to rise after training with the Gunners first team under Arsene Wenger and new coach Unai Emery, most recently three days ago before they faced Leicester City in the Premier League.

Okonkwo is sharp off his line, has good reflexes, not as good with his feet.

2) Gavin Bazunu (Manchester City) : Irish club Shamrock Rovers have announced that Bazunu has agreed a deal with Man City, making him the most expensive player sold by an Irish club in the professional era.

Bazunu is only 16 but is the favourite to step into the shoes of Vincent Enyeama if he can be convinced to play for Nigeria. He has represented Ireland's U15 and U17 National Teams.

3) Edward Ogbebor-Onaiwu (Stevenage) : Aged I8, Edward is known to be on the radar of the Nigerian Federation, having previously trained with the Golden Eaglets.

He is 6'3, a good shot-stopper, very comfortable with the ball at his feet and has game awareness.

4) Daniel Jinadu (West Ham) : First-year scholar at the Hammers. Notwithstanding his young age, he traveled to Switzerland with West Ham's first team for pre-season training, which shows how highly rated he is.

He has represented England U15 and U16 teams.

5) Manny Agboola (Oxford United) : The 20-year-old has already expressed his desire to play for the Super Eagles and has showed his capabilities with his club.

Has excellent ball handing skills, great reflexes, displays maturity beyond his years and vocal in the organization of his defense.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : swai.ie.