Chelsea relieved that Adarabioyo has been omitted from Nigeria's Nations Cup squad

ENGLISH Premier League giants Chelsea are delighted that central defender Tosin Adarabioyo has been omitted from Nigeria's African Cup of Nations squad despite recent rumours that he has committed to playing for the Super Eagles.

Yesterday, Super Eagles manager Eric Chelle announced a 28-man squad for the continental tournament holding between Sunday December 21 2025 and Sunday January 18 2026. Taking place in Morocco, the tournament takes place over the Christmas and New Year period, with Nigeria drawn in Group C alongside Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.

Over the last few weeks, it had been rumoured that Adarabioyo, 28, had committed his senior international future to Nigeria and Chelsea had feared that this would mean him going away for a month. However, the central defender was not called up by Mr Chelle and Chelsea are particularly happy that he will be available for their match against Fulham on January 7.

Chelsea's neighbours Fulham will be missing three key players for that match as Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze will be away with Nigeria. Fulham coach Marco Silva, said having three starters missing for a month will be a big blow for the club and he will particularly miss them in the southwest London derby.

Although heavily criticised for some of his performances lately, especially the recent away game against Leeds, Adarabioyo is important to Chelsea because they are lightweight at the back. He has represented England at the U16,U17.,U18 and U19 levels and was seen by many as an ideal replacement for Nigerian skipper William Ekong, who has just retired from international football

Looking forward to winning the Nations Cup as a consolation for missing out on the World Cup, Mr Chelle has dropped Wolverhampton Wanderers, striker Tolu Arokodare and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye from the initial 54-man provisional squad. In a rather surprising move, he has opted for 2018 World Cup goalkeeper Francis Uzoho, and Samsunspor striker Paul Onuachu.

Nottingham Forest's Ola Aina, who is currently recovering from injury, has not been included in the squad, as has Brentford loanee Benjamin Fredrick. Aina has been replaced with Blackburn Rovers’ Ryan Alebiosu, a defender, who recently switched his allegiance to Nigeria from England.

Other debutants are Ebenezer Akinsanmiro who plays for Pisa in Italy, Salim Fago of Croatian club Istra, Usman Muhammed of Israeli side Ironi Tiberius and Tochukwu Nnadi of Dutch club Zulte Waregem. Also making returns are defender Chigozie Awaziem and midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.

Full squad

Goalkeepers:

Stanley Nwabali, Amas Obasogie, Francis Uzoho

Defenders:

Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Bruno Onyemaechi, Chidozie Awaziem, Zaidu Sanusi, Igoh Ogbu, Ryan Alebiosu

Midfielders:

Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka, Wilfred Ndidi, Raphael Onyedika, Tochukwu Nnadi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, Usman Muhammed

Forwards:

Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Victor Osimhen, Simon Moses, Chidera Ejuke, Akor Adams, Paul Onuachu, Cyriel Dessers, Salim Fago Lawal