I Met Nigerians, But I Don’t Want To Play For Them – Tammy Abraham

Tammy Abraham has pledged his continuing allegiance to England and denied reports he was considering switching to Nigeria.

The Swansea City loan striker has, though, admitted he met officials from the Nigerian Football Federation.

Reports on Thursday suggested England Under-21 international Abraham, who qualifies for the African nation through his father, was thinking of swapping countries.

But the 19-year-old Swans loanee from Chelsea, is adamant England are the country for him.

In a statement, Abraham said: “Contrary to reports in the media today I would like to clarify that I have not agreed to switch my national team allegiance.

“I can confirm I met the President of the NFF after our last game against Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday, given he is a friend of my father.

“However, any suggestion that I have made a decision to change my international representation is incorrect and wide of the mark.

“I have informed The FA that I remain available for selection for England.”

His words will be welcomed by club boss Paul Clement, who said he wanted him to stick with England.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Watford, the Swans boss said: “For me, from my point of view, I hope he stays with the English national team.

“I’m not sure he’d be better off career-wise, I’m saying it because I’m English and he’s a good English talent, so you want him involved with your national team.

“Ultimately, it’s the decision of the player. In some cases, they’ll make the choice because they see a better opportunity, a chance of playing more regularly at international level and in other cases, it’s because it’s where they believe they’re from and they want to represent the country where they were born or where their parents were born and it’s in their culture.

“Whatever their reasons are, it’s down to the player to decide.

“The fact that he’s come through the English system, first at Academy level and also playing for the English national teams, I think that puts them at an advantage.”

Abraham has scored two goals in seven appearances and Clement has been happy with his contribution at the Liberty Stadium so far, and is confident there is more to come.

He said: “He has made the biggest step of his career. I’m not surprised how he’s done so far, I think he’s done fine and he’s going to get better and better.

“The biggest step in going to the Premier League. You see it so many times, young players making the step and how difficult it is, how difficult it is for foreign players to come over and make that step into this league.

“He’s done lots of good things and he’s done some things where he could have improved, but he’s in a good environment to get the right kind of help. Myself, the coaches work with all our players helping them get better at what they’re not so good at.”

 

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