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Eze: Rohr hopes ‘one of the best offensive midfielders’ switches to Nigeria
The German tactician has praised the 22-year-old and confirmed he has contacted him on the possibility of representing the Super Eagles
Nigeria national team coach Gernot Rohr is hoping Eberechi Eze will decide in no distant time to switch to the West African side, describing him as one of the best offensive midfielders he has ever seen in England.
Eze was born in England to Nigerian parents and has represented the European country at the U20 and U21 levels but he still eligible to switch his allegiance to play for the Super Eagles if he chooses to.
The midfielder has been turning heads since he teamed up with Crystal Palace last summer and in the current campaign, he has featured in more than 30 games for the Premier League side, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Rohr has praised the 22-year-old and revealed he has held talks with him on the possibility of playing for the three-time African champions, explaining the processes the midfielder will follow for the switch.
"This is a wonderful player, Ebere Eze is one of the best offensive midfielders I've ever seen in England and I would like to have him with us, but you know that he can also play for England and already played for one team in England," Rohr said to Elegbete TV Sports.
"I sent him a message and in this message, I showed the interest Nigeria have to get him in this team so he replied and he said he has to think about it, so it is not the moment to speak too much about it.
"There is a process to do, at first, the boy must accept and the decision must come from him, from his parents, from his own.
"We cannot tell him he must come, he must come himself and if he wants to come he has to write a letter.
"In this letter, he has to write to Fifa that he wants to switch and to play for Nigeria, this would be wonderful, but I know that we cannot force his decision and he can only take it himself.
"What we do is to explain to him how we are working, to explain to him what we are doing, and what our objectives are - what we did with players like Alex Iwobi, like Akpoguma, we did with Ola Aina and Tyronne Ebuehi.
"We have already some players like that, if we can have Eze it would be wonderful but it's not easy".
Rohr will hope the midfielder makes his switch before the start of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Eze broke into the limelight during his time with Championship side Queens Park Rangers, where he made a telling impact that earned him a move to Crystal Palace.
The midfielder will be expected to feature prominently when Palace slug it out against Leicester City on April 26.
