AFCON 2021: Eguavoen to ‘drop Ighalo’ from the Super Eagles squad

The 32-year-old attacker is set to miss out on the showpiece in Cameroon after the interim boss confirmed he would replace him in the squad 

Super Eagles interim boss Austin Eguavoen has said that he would drop Odion Ighalo from Nigeria’s 2021 AFCON squad.

Ighalo is part of the Super Eagles 28-man squad Eguavoen named, but he is yet to arrive at the team’s camp with just four days to the start of the AFCON.

The ex-Man Utd attacker only recently returned to the team after retiring following Nigeria’s third-place finish at the 2019 AFCON.

However, Ighalo may not get to play in a second consecutive AFCON as his club Al-Shabab have refused to release him for the competition.

Although Eguavoen still hopes Ighalo resolves the issue with his club, the Super Eagles coach confirmed that he would replace the former Watford attacker in the squad if he does not hear from him by 5 pm on Tuesday.

“If we don’t have any positive news on Ighalo by 5 pm, I will replace him, Eguavoen told the Nigerian media at his Pre-AFCON press conference.

And with the deadline now passed, the former Gent defender is likely to drop Ighalo from the squad and bring in a replacement.

However, Eguavoen failed to reveal who will come in for Ighalo, but Soccernet gathered that Feyenoord striker Cyriel Dessers is the man likely to be called up.

The Super Eagles are currently camped in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, but are expected to leave for Cameroon on Wednesday ahead of their opening game against Egypt on January 11.