The tug for the international future of Atalanta defender Caleb Okoli is officially on after his meeting with the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro, OGN can exclusively reveal.
Peseiro spoke about the need to meet the 21 year old for talks on switching his international future to Nigeria from Italy, where he is currently a part of their U21. The coach was at the stand to watch Okoli for Atalanta against Napoli on Saturday.
Okoli was an unused substitute in the game which his team lost 0-2 to the league leaders but despite failing to add to his 13 appearances in the Serie A this season, Peseiro went ahead with his plans and met with the defender after the game.
We exclusively gathered that they had a talk about having him play for Nigeria with Peseiro explaining to him how he plan to integrate him into the team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, which the Super Eagles coach said winning it is his ambition.
On his part, the defender whose club teammate Ademola Lookman is a senior international for Nigeria was said to have been impressed with the plans of the coach but said he needed time to speak with his representatives and get back to him.
A decision is expected in earnest and per what we heard from a source close to the player, it looks positive for Nigeria after the talks ” They met and had very good talks. Positive I must say but a decision will be made public very soon. Okoli admires the manager and his plans but we have to wait a little bit for a decision, he still has to hear from his people like his mother, she wasn’t at the meeting but she is aware”, he told OGN.
Mohammed Mowiz