Nigeria never pushed me to switch allegiance, says Chelsea defender, Fikayo Tomori

Chelsea FC defender Fikayo Tomori has revealed that Nigeria never made any effort to convince him to switch allegiance before his international call-up for England.

He said that he deliberated long and hard before committing his international future to England over Canada or Nigeria.

Choosing which country to represent had not been easy for the Chelsea defender, who is a new face in England’s squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers.

The 21-year-old was selected in Gareth Southgate’s latest squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria earlier this month.

Tomori’s parents are of Nigerian descent, while he is also eligible to play for Canada having been born in Calgary, representing them three times at the U-20 level.

His breakthrough into Chelsea’s first-team under Frank Lampard this season sparked a scramble to secure his international future, but Tomori insisted he had no contact with Nigeria prior to accepting Southgate’s call.

“England called me up in September, and I didn’t get a call up from anyone and when they called me up, it was hard to say no to them.

“But I enjoy Nigerian music, I’m Nigerian, it’s my culture and I’m very proud of it,” he said told Skysports.

Tomori will look to continue his fine form as the Blues travel to Burnley on Saturday aiming to extend their record of six consecutive victories in all competitions. (NAN)