Reading of England youngster, Michael Olise has received a strong hint from his nglish Championship clubside’s coach that he would be allowed to join the Super Eagles if he is officially invited, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Olise’s name is currently only on the Eagles’ standby list ahead of their matches against Benin Republic and Lesotho in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Reading’s handler, Veljko Paunovic said he has nothing against the lad going on international duty.
Although The Royals’ boss admitted there are still worries about coronavirus and international travel restrictions that could affect the fitness levels of his players, he reckoned that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) would ensure all the invites follow protocols to the letter.
Based on those permutations, Paunovic assured that he and any official at the club will not block the 19-year-old Olise or any other player from honouring calls from their countries during the international window this month.
This has paved way to a full Nigeria cap for Olise, who has previously played two non-binding youth games for France at the 2019 Toulon Tournament, but he is also eligible to lay for England and Algeria at international level.
For now, though, Olise appears closer to a cap with Nigeria, as Eagles’ gaffer, Gernot Rohr has been impressed by the youngster’s impact during his first season at Reading and The Royals’ coach has now promised that the dreadlocks-wearing youngster would be allowed to honour a full invitation once the NFF can assure he stays within all COVID-19 protocols.
Paunovic told Get Reading: “We can’t prevent anyone from going away on international duty. We will look to communicate with the international teams and their head coaches to know what the expectations are.
“What the protocols are around COVID. We will give our players our suggestions and recommendations to ensure they keep the standards up around COVID. Also what has been done.
“How many games the players have played in the last stretch and over the season. We’ll exchange data with the international teams and for the players who get called up, it’s also their call – if they’re feeling safe or not.”
