Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo has cleared the air surrounding his international future, revealing that he has never turned down the Super Eagles of Nigeria at any point in the past, www.aclsports.com reports.
The 27-year-old defender, born Abdul-Nasir Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami Adarabioyo, has represented England at the youth level, but he has not featured for either England or Nigeria (eligible by descent) at the senior level yet.
There were reports in the media back in 2020 and 2022 that the former Fulham defender turned down a chance to feature for the Super Eagles.
However, Adarabioyo, responding to a question from Oma Akatugba following Chelsea’s Europa Conference League win over Real Betis, denied those claims, describing them as false.
“So both of those pieces of news were pretty false. I’ve never turned down Nigeria and I’ve never had any conversations with them to say that I will be going to Nigeria,” Adarabioyo disclosed.
“At the point of last season where there was a little bit of conversation, I told the club, obviously I had to focus on club football. I was in my last year at Fulham and I just wanted to have a solid running at Fulham.
Following a successful first season at Chelsea where he helped the Blues win the UEFA Conference League, Adarabioyo thinks it’s about time he made a decision about his international future.
“Now I’m at Chelsea, it’s my first year, which I wanted to concentrate on again. And I think now is going to be the time that I need to make a decision,” he concluded.
Adarabioyo, who was an unused substitute as Chelsea beat Real Betis 4-1 in Wroclaw on Wednesday night, will hope to play a part in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.
