Former Super Eagles defender Sam Sodje has vowed to convince his godson and nephew, Tai Sodje to pledge his international future to Nigeria over England.

Aged 17 and a first-year scholar at Manchester City, Tai Sodje is literally in the form of his life, scoring in each of his first four starts for the Citizens in the U18 Premier League, with the highlight of his performance being the hat-trick he scored against Liverpool on September 26.

Capable of playing as an attacker and winger, Tai has been likened to Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for his similar playing style and goalscoring prowess.

Sam Sodje has acknowledged that Tai is more English than Nigerian but he wants the highly-rated teenager to follow in the footsteps of his uncles by playing for the Super Eagles when he comes of age.

Speaking to the Super Eagles Media Team via YouTube, Sam Sodje said : "I've got a young nephew who is half English, half Nigerian, whom they see as an English player but definitely I will convince him and it's easy for me to convince him because we've got a good set up in Nigeria at the moment.

"His name is Tai Sodje, he plays for Manchester City, he's 17 years old, top, top striker.

"I don't need to sell him, he's going to sell himself, he scored a hat-trick last week against Liverpool U18s so he's a player I'm looking to see him play for Nigeria because it's different from me as I grew up in this country so I wanted to play here but he has been to Nigeria once.

"He's more of an English boy than Nigerian boy but he's got uncles like myself that can tell him how it's a dream come true to play for Nigeria."

Former Sheffield United youth-teamer Tai Sodje is the leading marksman in the U18 Premier League North and South with six goals.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel