Sports minister speaks with Tammy Abraham's father in desperate bid secure him for Super Eagles

SPORTS minister Sunday Dare has spoken with the father of Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham in a desperate bid to get the youngster to opt for Nigeria and feature for the Super Eagles as the battle for his services rages.

Tammy, 21, has been a revelation this season, emerging as the main feature of Chelsea's attack, scoring a hat trick in their last home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite being an England youth international and having featured in friendly games for the senior team, Tammy remains eligible to represent Nigeria as his parents are Ijaws from the Niger Delta.

With both England and Nigeria battling for his services as the 2022 World Cup looms, Mr Dare run the strikers' father in London, asking him to try and influence his son's decision. Born in Camberwell, in southeast London, Tammy is now the joint-top scorer in the English Premier League with seven goals and has been heavily linked with a recall to the England squad next month.

Mr Dare said: “Last night I spoke with Mr Abraham, the father of soccer sensation Tammy Abraham in London. I shared my excitement about his son’s exploits on the field with him and he was happy and thankful for reaching out.”

In the past, Nigeria successfully wooed Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi, who were both eligible to play for England bit opted for the Super Eagles instead. With Tammy, however, securing his services has been more problematic as the player appears not to be that keen on Nigeria.

Tammy's father is close friends with Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick and on September 21 2017, Mr Pinnick claimed that the striker had switched his allegiance to Nigeria. However, Tammy issued a statement the same day denying the claim and reaffirming his availability for England selection and upon receiving his first England call-up in November 2017, he stated that there was never any prospect of him choosing to play for Nigeria.