NFF officials plan flying into London for face-to-face talks with Brentford's Kayode

SUPER Eagles head coach Eric Chelle plans flying into London for face-to-face talks with Brentford fullback Michael Kayode with a view to convincing him to switch his loyalties to Nigeria from Italy.

Kayode, 21, has had a superb season with English Premier League side Brentford since moving to London from Fiorentina in the Italian league. Born in Italy to Nigerian parents, the rightfullback has already played for Italy at U18, U19, and U21 levels and has previously admitted that playing for the Azzurri is his primary dream.

However, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) are keen to woo the youngster but to play for Nigeria, he will have to undergo a formal switch with Fifa. To facilitate this, the NFF are arranging to meet up with Kayode over the coming weeks to convince him to switch his allegiance to Nigeria.

Nigeria's first choice rightback Ola Aina, who plies his trade with Nottingham Forest, is 29 and is the only one currently playing at the same level as Kayode at the moment.  Both of his two understudies - Bright Osayi-Samuel of Birmingham City and Ryan Alebiosu of Blackburn Rovers, play in the English Championship.

Senior NFF officials plan to hold talks with Kayode in London to outline a clear route into the Super Eagles squad. Michael, who was recently left out of Italy’s senior squad by coach Gennaro Gattuso for the March European World Cup play-offs, was born in Borgomanero, Italy, to parents, Victoria and Anthony Kayode.