Ademola Lookman appears to have made U-turn and committed his international future to England

EVERTON striker Ademola Lookman appears to have made a dramatic U-turn and committed his international future to England after initially signifying that he wants to play for Nigeria's Super Eagles.

Lookman, 20, is currently an England youth international, having played for the English U21 team after joining Everton from Charlton Athletic. He is currently out on loan to German side RB Leipzig, where he career has blossomed since he began seeing regular action at the club, which is keen to sign him permanently.

In September, Lookman confirmed that he is willing to consider playing for Nigeria having been approached by Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr. However, England manager Southgate, vowed to prevent Lookman switching his allegiance to Nigeria, saying he had plans for him over the long term.

Mr Rohr confirmed that he is after the player and even asked the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) to begin the documentation of his switch. Under Fifa rules, if you have played for one country at youth level, a player needs to write in and request for permission to be able to make a formal switch if he intends playing for a different nation at senior level.

However, it now appears that Lookman has had a change of mind with England U21 coach Aidy Boothroyd confirming that the player has assured him that his international future lies with England. He added that he uses the interest from Nigeria to mock the forward during trainings as they are all aware of Nigeria’s push to have him commit his future to the Super Eagles.

Mr Boothroyd said: "Every time I see him I have a little joke with him about it. Why would you want to leave us?

"He’s very focused on England, that’s what he tells me. He says he wants to play international football for England."

Following the approach form the NFF, Lookman was prepared to begin switching his allegiance through Fifa but Mr Southgate has decided he wants the player. Mr Southgate is confident he can keep the player despite the pressure from the NFF and it appears he has now stopped the transfer process.