Lazio midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru has continued to dazzle in the star-studded Super Eagles training camp for 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda.
“He is a strong player and has a good eye for goals,” a top team official told SCORENigeria on the player’s performance in Uyo ahead of the crucial qualifiers
Dele-Bashiru made his Super Eagles on October 16, 2023, and provided an assist in a 3-2 win over Mozambique in a friendly.
He announced his arrival on the international scene in June when he fired a sublime goal for the Super Eagles to salvage a 1-1 draw in Uyo.
It was a well-taken equaliser that oozed class from the former Manchester City starlet.
A thigh injury will deny him the chance to play the second 2026 World Cup qualifier against Benin in Abidjan.
He will be expected to show today that his performance against South Africa on the same pitch in June was not a fluke.
Dele-Bashiru, the younger brother of Tom Dele-Bashiru who was capped by the Flying Eagles, is mainly an attacking midfielder, who could also be deployed in central midfield and the right wing.
Last season, he scored eight goals and provided five assists in 36 appearances for modest club Hatayspor to stay up in the Turkish Super Lig
It was a performance that has since earned him a loan transfer to Serie A club Lazio, which will be made permanent at season’s end after certain conditions are met.
He has featured in the first three Serie A matches of Lazio in the new season.
He made his Serie A debut in a 3-1 home win over Venezia, playing the full duration.
He has also featured in a 2-1 loss at Udinese and a 2-2 home draw with AC Milan.
Could he now be the central midfielder that the Super Eagles have so desperately needed since the hey days of Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha?
