Chukwuemeka, Kayode, Other Foreign-Born Stars Reject Super Eagles Under Eric Chelle
- Former Chelsea star Carney Chukwuemeka switched his international allegiance from England to Austria
- The Borussia Dortmund midfielder was also eligible to represent Nigeria, but snubbed the Super Eagles
- He joins a list of foreign-born players who have turned down playing for Nigeria under Eric Chelle
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has experienced multiple setbacks in their pursuit of some foreign-born stars since Eric Chelle became Super Eagles head coach.
NFF in the past years have intensified efforts to get players with multiple nationalities, particularly those born abroad to represent the Super Eagles.
Source: Getty Images
Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Ademola Lookman, Maduka Okoye, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ryan Alebiosu, amongst others, are some of those examples in the current squad.
However, some have turned down the chance to represent Nigeria and opted to play for their European countries, with Carney Chukwuemeka being the most recent example.
Legit.ng examines six foreign-born stars who recently rejected Nigeria.
Foreign-born players who rejected Nigeria
1. Carney Chukwuemeka
Chukwuemeka is eligible to play for Nigeria through his parents. He was born in Austria and raised in England, and represented the English youth teams at junior level, winning the UEFA Euro U19 in 2022.
He has been on the radar of the NFF for a while and was reported to have agreed to switch in 2025, but sources close to him debunked the rumours. FIFA confirmed his nationality switch to Austria recently, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
2. Noah Atubolu
SC Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu was born in Germany to Nigerian parents. The NFF has eyes on him even though he has made it very clear that he will play for the German national team and has featured at youth levels.
Atubolu, while the NFF is still fancying the idea of having him, he earned his first call-up for Die Mannschaft in October 2025, replacing the sick Oli Baumann, even though he did not play in the matches.
3. Nnamdi Collins
Collins was born in Düsseldorf, Germany and is also eligible to represent Nigeria and Poland through his family. He represented Germany at all youth levels from U15 to U21 and made his senior debut against Slovakia on September 4.
The debut did not go as planned. He was complicit in both Slovakia goals, was substituted at halftime and has not earned another callup. German magazine Kicker rated him as the worst debutant in the national team's history.
4. Lesley Ugochukwu
Ugochukwu was born in France to Nigerian parents and is reportedly open to representing both countries, even though he played for France at youth levels, and was named as a standby for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The former Chelsea man was reportedly close to switching his international allegiance to Nigeria in 2025, but it was later debunked, and there has yet to be further updates about him since that time.
5. Honest Ahanor
Ahanor was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, and has yet to become an Italian citizen because the law doesn't grant citizenship to second-generation immigrants until they turn 18.
According to Goal, Italy are desperate to have him commit his future even before he turned 18 on February 23. The Italians are keen to cap him now that he is 18 and eligible for citizenship to stop Nigeria from getting him.
Source: Getty Images
6. Michael Kayode
Kayode was born and raised in Italy and has expressed a desire to represent the country of his birth. Italian national team head coach Gennaro Gattuso has also shown interest in calling him up to the national team.
Foreign-born players who are set to debut
Legit.ng previously analysed some foreign-born players who are expected to debut for Super Eagles before the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Eric Chelle continues to assess his options for dual nationality players who could improve the squad after finishing third at AFCON 2025.
Source: Legit.ng
