IKENWA NNABUOGOR wonders what the Super Eagles plans are for Reading FC midfielder Ovie Ejaria now that his mate Michael Olise is a step closer to the national team…
Ovie Ejaria has long enjoyed a romance with the country of his roots even before his Reading team mate Michael Olise popped into the scene and ultimately inching closer to come home to his roots.
Ejaria had caught the eye of the former Flying Eagles coach Paul Aigbogun in 2017 and even trained with the team but nothing came out of the association.
Aigbogun had wanted the former Liverpool starlet in his team as they navigated the African qualifying route to Poland for the FIFA U20 World Cup, but his wish to have the interesting midfielder didn’t bear fruits as his colourless team wobbled and fumbled out of the World Cup.
Ejaria’s romance wasn’t totally with the junior national team, he also trained with the Super Eagles’ team ahead of build-up to Russia 2018 World Cup with top officials at the heart of Ejaria’s Eagles’ brief party.
Fast forward to late 2020 – Ejaria had matured with time and raised his bar to grab all the headlines in the heart of the Reading midfield to spark a renewed interest from homeland.
Sweet ball carrying and distributing Ejaria would easily attract any coach in the world as he continues to propel Reading’s frantic promotion push to the English Premiership with the help of his roots mate, Olise.
One of such suitors is naturally coach Gernot Rohr, whose main headache is the Eagles’ midfield that has struggled to keep up the pace and grit since former captain John Obi Mikel called time with the Eagles.
NFF and Rohr came smelling fresh with renewed wish to have Ejaria in the Eagles, but this time with a company, Olise, and stepped up their applications with the global football ruling body FIFA for a quick switch.
Olise eventually made the list, albeit, on standby, but no trace of Ejaria yet, though, Olise’s switch isn’t fully completed as he awaits his Nigerian passport to fully fly with the Eagles.
The question now is – what’s happening to Ejaria’s switch process?
Could there be a hitch somewhere regarding interest or just administrative tardiness?
Are Nigeria frustrated by the whole process by some interests in getting Ejaria’s switch process concluded?
Or could it be suggested the country may have given up hope on the exciting youngster?
Close watchers have been following up on Ejaria’s case as his stocks continue to rise in the English Championship with bigger clubs waiting for a swoop, and wondered what could have been stalling his switch process to Nigeria.
There has been no official statement on Ejaria’s switch process since Olise made the standby list, fueling suspicions that all may not be too well with his switch process.
Ejaria has a lot to bring on the table for Nigeria and the sooner his Eagles future is sorted out the better.
It should be noted that England’s Three Lions are also watching with keen interests and may be quicker than Nigeria.
