Ex-England youth player, Chuba Akpom confirms switch to Nigeria

A former youth footballer of England, Chuba Akpom has finally switched his international allegiance to Nigeria, stating that he has been wanting to do so for many years.

The 23-year-old striker who plays in Greece for PAOK is eligible to play for the Super Eagles as he holds dual-nationality and has not represented England at senior level.

London-born Akpom scored 18 goals in 41 youth caps for England from under-16 to under-21 level.

“I’ve only just recently switched my allegiance, so I’ve signed the documents and hopefully in the next few weeks it will be approved to enable me play for Nigeria,” Akpom told BBC Sport.

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“I’ve been wanting to do that for many years now but not many people know this. It’s just been a matter of sorting it out, which is now in a process. I’m looking forward to it.

“It was a personal decision. I’m Nigerian and my whole family feel very Nigerian and it will be nice to represent Nigeria.

“It will also be nice to link up with Alex [Iwobi] again and play for the national team. We started playing when we were younger together and to make that step to play for the national team together will be amazing.”

Akpom joined Arsenal at the age of six and spent time on loan with Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull and Brighton, but failed to break into the Gunners’ first team.

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