Nigeria suffer blow in pursuit of Olise as France set to provisionally cap-tie Crystal Palace star

Published: March 17, 2022

The Nigeria Football Federation have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Michael Olise, with the French Football Federation naming the in-form Crystal Palace winger on the list of players summoned to their U21 squad for international matches this month.

Born in England to an Algerian mother and Nigerian father, Olise qualifies to represent four countries internationally namely Nigeria, Algeria, England and France.

The French Football Federation have stolen a march on their rivals by including Olise on a list of 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 7 midfielders and 5 attackers for a 2023 European U21 Championship qualifier against the Faroe Islands.

If the 20-year-old takes to the pitch in the U21 EURO qualifier on Thursday, March 24 ,2022 at the Stade de l'Epopée in Calais, he will be provisionally cap-tied to France.

Olise already has international experience with France youth teams from a spell with their U18s, with whom he played twice at the 2019 Toulon Tournament.

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has held talks with Olise and his minders over pledging his allegiance to England while the Nigeria Football Federation named him in an expanded squad list for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with Benin and Lesotho last year.

After the U21 EURO qualifier with Faroe Islands, France will play a friendly match against Northern Ireland, still in Calais, on Monday March 28.

Since landing at Crystal Palace last summer, Olise has scored 4 goals and notched seven assists in 25 appearances, winning the club's Player of the Month twice.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : cpfc.co.uk

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