Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo has stated that he has never rejected an opportunity to represent Nigeria and clarified that he has not held any discussions about playing for the Super Eagles.
He made this known after the Blues’ Conference League triumph on Wednesday, a match where he was rested after playing in the Premier League win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Although he didn’t feature in the final, Adarabioyo was among Chelsea’s most consistent performers in the Conference League, starting 10 matches and scoring once. His contributions were instrumental in the Blues’ journey to the final, where their victory marked a historic achievement — making them the first club to win every major European trophy.
Adarabioyo was born in London to Nigerian parents before his family moved to Whalley Range in South Manchester when he was still an infant. The 27-year-old is yet to make his senior debut for England, but represented the country on 14 occasions between the under-16 and under-19 levels.
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This means that the Manchester City academy graduate is still eligible to play for Nigeria. Although earlier reports suggested he had declined an invitation from the Nigeria Football Federation to join the Super Eagles, he was later said to be open to the possibility of representing the national team.
However, during his post-match interview, Adarabioyo clarified the situation, stating that he neither accepted nor rejected an offer from Nigeria. He added that he is now prepared to make a decision concerning his international future.
“Yeah, so both of those pieces of news were pretty false. I’ve never, 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 told Nigerian journalist Oma Akatugba.
“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 the last year at Fulham and I just wanted to have a solid running at Fulham.”
“And 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 revealed.
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