Super Eagles chief scout Tunde Adelakun has revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation are monitoring Real Madrid’s youngstar Marvin Park Akinlabi with a view of handing him a call up to the Nigeria national team when the time comes.
Akinlabi was born in Palma de Mallorca about two decades ago. He’s born to a Nigerian father and a South Korean mother making him eligible to represent the national teams of Spain, Nigeria and South Korea.
The 20 year old midfielder made his debut for the Los Blancos in a goaless encounter with Real Sociedad over the weekend coming off the bench in the Laliga encounter.
If Akinlabi commits himself to the Super Eagles, he would not need to go through a change of association due to the fact that he’s only played for the Spanish U19 team in a friendly match against Italy.
Tunde Adelakun confirmed that Akinlabi is a player of interest but made it known that the decision is with the Super Eagles coach and the NFF to hand the attacking midfielder an invite.
“We are watching all players that are qualified and eligible to play for Nigeria, all across the board, Real Madrid and even clubs in Vietnam, therefore he’s not out of our radar,” Adelakun said
“The fact that he made a debut for Real Madrid is great, it is fantastic news for him, he has made history for himself as a player.
“We will keep watching his progress to see whether he will make the squad at some point in the future.
“My place is to watch players that are eligible and give my reports to my superiors, being the head coach and on the administrative side the Nigeria Football Federation, so the two will make the decision”
Akinlabi became the first Nigerian to play for the Los Blancos as other Nigerians who were on the books of the La Liga giants only played for the Madrid B team.
OJB SPORT 