OVIE EJARIA (LIVERPOOL)
Born in London to Nigerian parents, Ejaria, grew up supporting Arsenal for whom he played for nine years before signing for Liverpool in summer 2014. His first senior appearance was in a pre-season friendly prior to the 2016-17 season against Tranmere Rovers on 8 July 2016.Despite being relatively unknown prior to the game he performed exceptionally well and caught the eye of first team manager Jürgen Klopp who selected him for four more friendlies over the summer.
His first competitive call-up came on 16 September in a Premier League match against Chelsea. He was an unused substitute in Liverpool’s 2–1 victory. Four days later, he made his first team debut against Derby County in the League Cup replacing Roberto Firmino in the 3–0 victory.
On 25 October, Ejaria made his full debut in the fourth round of the EFL Cup in a 2–1 win over against Tottenham at Anfield. On 6 November 2016, he debuted in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute in Liverpool’s 6–1 home win over Watford.
Ejaria is eligible to represent England or Nigeria internationally. He trained with the Nigeria Under-17s team in 2013 and stated that his international allegiance lay with the country in 2014. However, despite rumours of a senior Nigeria call up being in the offing, Ejaria accepted a call up to the England U20 team on 30 September 2016.He made his debut for the Under-20 team on 7 October, in a 3–1 win against Germany, playing the whole match.
Ejaria who was omitted from the Nigeria U-17 FIFA World cup winning team of 2013, was in the English U-19 team that featured at the 2016 Suwon international Invitational tournament where England came second behind host, South Korea.
DOMINIC IORFA (WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS)
Dominic Iorfa (born 24 June 1995) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The son of a former Nigerian international footballer of the same name, Iorfa was part of the youth system at his local club Southend United before joining the academy of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 15.
He moved on a one-month loan to League One Shrewsbury Town on 18 March 2014 and made his senior debut the same day as a substitute in a 0–1 defeat at Colchester. Iorfa’s first senior start came eleven days later in a 1–0 loss to Walsall at the Bescot Stadium, receiving his first yellow card also. Overall Iorfa made seven appearances for the Shrews in a campaign which ultimately resulted in relegation.
Following his return to Wolves, Iorfa made his first appearance for the club as a surprise starter in a 2–1 loss to Bournemouth at Molineux on 6 December 2014.He swiftly became the club’s first choice right-back, starting in twenty-one of Wolves’ twenty-five remaining fixtures following his debut. Having made his debut at the start of a 4-game unbeaten run, Iorfa became a fan favourite and a regular to the first team. In January 2015, Iorfa won the football league’s Young Player Of The Month award, and that same day went on to assist a goal in a 3–0 win for Wolves against Fulham.
Iorfa has been capped by England at under-18 level and under-20 level. According to his father, Iorfa will consider playing for Nigeria only after his 23rd birthday.
JORDON FEMI IBE (BOURNEMOUTH)
Jordon Ashley Femi Ibe (born 8 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth as an attacking midfielder or winger.
After coming up through the youth system of Wycombe Wanderers, for whom he made his debut in the Football League as a 15-year-old, Ibe joined Liverpool in 2012. He spent time on loan at Championship clubs Birmingham City in the 2013–14 season and Derby County in 2014–15. In 2016, he signed for Bournemouth for a club record £15 million fee. He has represented England from under-18 to under-21 level.
Ibe is eligible for Nigeria through his father. The Nigeria Football Federation confirmed in February 2015 that they were monitoring Ibe and would attempt to get him to switch his international allegiance. In August, Nigeria manager Sunday Oliseh made a personal appeal to Ibe in an attempt to convince him to switch allegiance, but a few weeks later, he confirmed that his international future lay with England.
CHUBA AKPOM
Chuba Amechi Akpom (born 9 October 1995) is an English professional footballer of Nigerian descent who plays as a striker and centre forward for Brighton & Hove Albion on loan from Arsenal.
On 15 February 2011 Akpom made his debut for England U16s in a friendly match against Slovenia, which ended in a 00 draw. On 2 August 2011 Akpom made his U17 debut, scoring once in 40 win over the Islands. He played in all six games and scored two goals during England’s unsuccessful 2012 European U17 Championshipqualifying campaign. He made 13 appearances in total for the U17s and scored five goals.On 6 September 2012 Akpom made his England U19 debut in a 31 defeat to Germany.
Akpom, who is of Nigerian descent, is still eligible to represent Nigeria. In May 2016, he was formally approached by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and three months later was selected for the England under 21’s’ for the Three Lion’s UEFA European Championship qualifier against Norway.
On 28 March 2017, Akpom was close to switching to Nigeria after appearing in a London friendly game for Nigeria.
