Everton winger Alex Iwobi believes Victor Osimhen can replace Odion Ighalo in the national team, with the experienced Manchester United striker calling time on his international career shortly after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ighalo was in red-hot form in his last one year as a Super Eagles player but the Lille wonderkid has performed excellently since stepping into his shoes, scoring four goals in as many matches.
“The good thing for us when we were in the last tournament, we were a very young squad and we got a lot of young talents coming through as well,” said Iwobi on Instagram Live.
“Unfortunately Mikel and Ighalo won’t be with us anymore for the future but there are lots of young talents like Victor Osimhen can take Ighalo’s role, not only Victor.”
Prior to the postponement of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Nigeria were leading Group L after winning their first two games.
Iwobi revealed the future is bright for the Super Eagles because of the young talents coming through.
“The way Gernot Rohr tells us to humble ourselves and come with the right mentality, all good to him. Nigeria we are good enough to compete to try and win tournaments.
“At the end of the day you are in the tournaments to try and win, now we are very confident, with the young talents coming through its very exciting times for the future.”
Only yesterday, Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick confirmed that manager Gernot Rohr would continue coaching the national team, and Iwobi says it is a welcome development.
“I really enjoy playing under him (Rohr), hopefully there will be more to come.
“First of all the team, the results speak for itself I guess because we are blossoming very well as a team. We are getting the results as good as we can.
“For him to sign an extension is good news,” the Super Eagles playmaker concluded.