Chukwuemeka dumps Nigeria pledging his senior international future to England

CHELSEA midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka has opted to plat for England instead of Nigeria at senior international level stating that he is aiming to feature for the Three Lions in the 2024 European championships.

Chukwuemeka, 19, who played a significant part in England winning last year's European U19 Championship, was named in the Euro Team of the Tournament. In the summer, he joined Chelsea from Aston Villa, who had queries from him from the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Arsenal, among others.

Eligible to play for three different countries, Chukwuemeka can represent Nigeria through his father and Austria through birth, as well as England. With all three nations certain to begin a tug-of-war for his services, England manager Gareth Southgate decided to steak a march on the others with a surprise visit to Chelsea's Cobham Training Centre in August to encourage the youngster to play for the Three Lions.

Yesterday, Chukwuemeka set the record straight regarding his international future, stating clearly that he wants to play for England. He stated that his goal is to get into the England squad for the next European Championships, kind of like Bukayo Saka did last time around.

Chukwuemeka said: "In 2023, I want to kick on and break into the team. To make my Champions League debut, to keep my confidence high and to build on my past performances. And so much as it was my dream to play for Chelsea, it's also my dream to play for my country England.

"I've set myself this goal to play at Euro 2024. Obviously, I've got to keep on working hard and then we'll see what happens."

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials were able to convince two former Chelsea stars who previously represented the Young Lions, Victor Moses and Ola Aina, to switch their international allegiance from England to Nigeria. On the other hand, the NFF missed out on two Chelsea Academy products Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori.