Peseiro urged to invite Celtic's German-born centreback Moritz Jenz to Eagles camp

FOOTBALL analysts have asked Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro to  consider extending a national team invitation to Celtic centreback Moritz Jenz as he seeks to rebuild his squad.

Next Tuesday, the Super Eagles face Algeria in a friendly game in the coastal city of Oran and next month, the team will lock horns with Portugal. Having missed out on the 2022 World Cup taking place in Qatar this year, the Nigerian Football Federation appointed Mr Peseiro as head coach with a mandate to rebuild the squad.

At the moment, the Eagles are thin on the ground in the centreback area, as most of its players are either ageing, playing in the second tier of league football or not seeing action with their clubs. Of all Nigeria's centrebacks, only Kevin Akpoguma of Hoffenheim and Calvin Bassey of Ajax are playing top flight football at the moment.

Born in Berlin, Jenz, 23, is on a season-long loan at Scottish Premiership giants Celtic from French side Lorient. He has a Nigerian grandparent, which makes him eligible to play for the Super Eagles and because he has not featured for any German youth team yet, he does not need to undergo any Fifa switch.

Jenz has had a fine start to life at Parkhead, scoring two goals in seven appearances and helping the Hoops keep three clean sheets in the process. Standing at six feet three inches, Jenz is a threat from set-pieces and can also be deployed as a right fullback, having played there several times.

"I qualify for Germany and Nigeria but I would prefer Germany because that’s where I grew up.  It’s a great country to play for an hopefully one day I can make a couple of appearances, then maybe a couple more and then, who knows, perhaps play in a World Cup or Euros.

“But I need to do my best for the club first. That’s the most important thing and after that we can talk about the national team," Jenz added.

Born in Berlin to a father from Bremen, he left Germany and moved to England with his parents at the age of 13 before teaming up with the Fulham academy. he has since played in France and is now back in the UK with Celtic.