ANDREW EKEJIUBA
Championship club Reading have assured that they will not block their players from representing their countries during the international window this month especially Michael Olise.
Two Royals players of interest to Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr are midfielders Olise and Ovie Ejaria, while striker Sone Aluko has been in the international wilderness for around six years.
Olise has been placed on the Super Eagles standby list for two 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against the Republic of Benin and Lesotho.
There’s a nationality battle for his services as he also qualifies to represent France, England and Algeria at international level.
In the event that Olise replaces a player named in the final Super Eagles squad, Reading will hold talks with Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr before the midfielder is permitted to travel to Africa.
Asked if he can block players going away on international duty, Reading manager Veljko Paunovic said: “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 and we will give our players our suggestions and recommendations to ensure they keep the standards up around Covid.
“And 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.”
The 19-year-old Olise played two non-binding games for France at the 2019 Toulon Tournament.