Eberechi Eze Nigeria switch: analyzing the five things the Super Eagles will benefit.
Nigeria eligible midfielder Eberechi Eze switch to Nigeria is still up in the air despite talks of making up his minds for the West Africans.
The Crystal Palace attacking Midfielder has been described as one of the best young talents in the Premier League.
Since making his Premier League debut for the club on 12 September 2020, he has gradually turned out to be one of the most important players at the club.
Towards the end of the 2020/2021 English Premier season, Eze powered Crystal Palace attacker until to be sidelined when it matters most to the club.
With this brilliant start to life in the Premier League, one of the places yet to be settled by the youngster is his international future.
By birth, Eberechi Eze is eligible to represent the Three Lions of England and had also represented the youth setup on various occasions.
His appearance for the English youth side most recently was during the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where he scored a goal in the game against Croatia.
For the country of his ancestry, Eze is eligible to represent Nigeria through his parents and was approached by the president of the Nigerian Football Federation Amaju Pinnick.
Despite these, the 22-year old is yet to pull the plug as to which of the countries he’ll lace his boots for when it comes to the senior national team level.
Eze’s career in a nutshell at Club level
Started with the youth ranks at Queens Park Rangers in 2016, he was quickly integrated into the main team of the Championship club after an impressive run during his stay time with the college setup.
He was eventually loaned to Wycombe Wanderers where he was quickly regarded as one of the most important players at the club within the first few games he’d played with the club.
In 20 appearances for Wycombe Wanderers, Eberechi Eze scored five goals in the process.
Returning to Queens Park Rangers, the attacking midfielder started to get the quality time he struggled to get before moving out on loan to Wycombe.
The most remarkable season with Queens Park Rangers was in the 2019-20 season.
This was where he quickly established himself as a proper first-team player and retained his place in the first team.
He continued with his brilliant football until Premier League outfit Crystal Palace came calling for his services.
Moving to the club, he finally made his debut in the game against Southampton which ended on a winning note.
Since making his debut, he quickly established himself as one of the top players for the starting eleven.
International career in the youth ranks
Eze initially trained with the Nigerian national team but was later called up for England’s Young Lions for the U20 Championship where he eventually scored his debut goal for the country.
His most recent appearances were during the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Analyzing his chances of getting to play for Nigeria over England
He is yet to play for the English national team at any senior level of Competition which opens the door wide for the Super Eagles.
However, the decision to play for the country is still in his hands.
Nigeria has an abundance of talents currently in the senior national team but still requires more addition to fill in the gaps.
For the West Africans, it appears he would be granted more roles since his position appears not to be of high Competition compared to other positions.
The five things Eberechi Eze will bring to the Super Eagles of Nigeria if he switches allegiance
1. Competition
The 22-year old Footballer plays more of an attacking football and has been able to make a good impact for club and country.
A reason why he is currently one of the most-watched youngsters in the English Premier League.
Switching to the Super Eagles, he is expecting to bring more Competition to the middlemost especially in the attacking half.
For quite a while now, the team has missed the serves of a good and more decisive attacking midfielder capable of creating fear in the middle of the park.
His ability will help distribute balls throughout the midfield which will, in turn, open up goal-scoring opportunities for the team.
Since making his Premier League for Crystal Palace, he’s been retained in the first team because of his unique abilities.
2. Holding the balls for attackers
The likes of Paul Onuachu and Kelechi Iheanacho needs a midfielder who can accurately distribute balls for them to score.
For quite a while now, Nigerian has not gotten an attacker capable of dropping dip into the midfield to help build up attacks.
His ability to hold the ball for a long time will boost the team’s chances of moving deep into the opponents half with goals scoring opportunities.
Key passes and decisive runs are also other abilities he offers the team in general.
One of the reasons he’d shined at Crystal Palace is his ability to make those runs by holding the balls for the attackers.
Building within the midfield and distributing the balls for the players up front.
3. More offensive-minded
During Crystal Palace 2-0 away win in the 2020/2021 Premier League matchday, Eze singlehandedly won the man of the match.
In the process of scoring a goal for himself, Eberechi Eze was busy creating goal-scoring opportunities for the attackers.
In summary, he was able to distribute more passes at his attackers even though they could not covert.
Eze is more of an attacking midfielder who can run in behind the attackers.
For the Super Eagles, he’ll make things easier for the likes of Paul Onuachu, Simy Nwankwo, Kelechi Iheanacho in terms of scoring goals for the team.
4. More options
The midfield of the Nigerian senior national team is not as top-notch as it were years back, although there have been improvements lately.
His addition will make it easier for the coach in terms of better options from the bench and more Competition.
5. Good final third in the middle of the park
Top coaches like Pep Guardiola excel more because of the sound list of midfielders at his disposal. Eze is more decisive moving forward.
His final third is one of the best at Crystal Palace. Indeed, he is expected to grow with consistency on his part.
Is Eberechi Eze eligible for Nigeria? Although he has represented England at various age-grade Competitions, he is eligible for Nigeria through his parents.
The battle between Nigeria and England
The Three Lions has an array of stars and Eze’s abilities could be another addition that would spice up the entire team.
However, his current stance becomes the main obstacle although the English national team handlers are yet to hand him a senior call up.
On the part of Nigeria, it appears his starting shirt could be waiting for him already since the Competitiveness of the role he plays are very low compared to his style and ability.
