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Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke is eligible to play for Nigeria and here are three reasons for him to be in the Super Eagles AFCON squad
Bournemouth currently sit 13th in the Premier League following their superb 3-0 win against Manchester United, largely thanks to the exploits of striker Dominic Solanke.
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18:12 - 09.12.2023
Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth: Woeful hosts suffer nightmare defeat at the Theatre of Dreams
Bournemouth secured their first-ever win at Old Trafford with a surprising 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United.
The England-born striker appears to finally be coming into his own at the age of 26 having broken through early as a prodigy in his youth football days.
His super form this season so far deserves recognition on the international stage and here is why he should be of interest to the Super Eagles as he is eligible to play for Nigeria through his father.
3 reasons for the Super Eagles to invite Dominic Solanke
1. Solanke is in good form
As earlier stated, Solanke's superb form is one of the reasons Bournemouth have been competitive in the Premier League so far this season and the 26-year-old has made himself indispensable to Andoni Iraola's team.
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Only Erling Haaland (14), Mohmed Salah (11), Jarrod Bowen (9) and Son Heung-Min (9) have scored more Premier League goals than Solanke who has eight goals in 16 games which is already two more than he managed last season.
Four of Solanke's goals have been scored in his last five games, with Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester United on the receiving end.
His current run of form deserves international recognition which he is most likely not going to get from England, leaving Nigeria as his best bet.
2. Solanke would be more useful for Nigeria than England
There are two major tournaments coming up in 2024 with the Africa Cup of Nations in January and the Euros at the end of the club football season in the summer.
Solanke will be hoping to be involved in one of both and even though going to the Euros with England would be his preference, an AFCON voyage might be the best move for his career.
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Although eligible to play for England by birth and through his mother, Solanke is probably not even in consideration for Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate.
He did get a look-in once, coming off the bench in the 75-minute for England in a friendly game against Brazil as a 20-year-old which remains his only senior cap.
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It also means Solanke is very much still eligible to switch his international allegiance as he's yet to play a competitive game for any country as per FIFA rules.
It might serve Solanke best to switch from England to Nigeria before the Africa Cup of Nations as he is way behind on the English pecking order of strikers led by Harry Kane.
3. Solanke can replace Awoniyi
Much like England, Nigeria have a long list of strikers competing for limited spots in the team ahead of the competition so it is not going to be a walk in the park for Solanke by any means.
However, the unfortunate injury to Taiwo Awoniyi rules him out of the upcoming AFCON and leaves a centre-forward spot to be filled and Solanke can certainly compete for it based on his good form.
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21:45 - 01.12.2023
With Awoniyi sidelined, are the Super Eagles another Osimhen injury from AFCON disaster?
Despite the surfeit of Jose Peseiro’s centre-forward options, only Victor Osimhen and Taiwo Awoniyi offer a significant degree of physicality many observers reckon is needed to thrive on the continent. Losing the Napoli striker before January would be far from ideal.
Other both Victors; Osimhen and Boniface, none of the other strikers have a guaranteed spot in the team at the moment with Umar Sadiq, Terem Moffi, Gift Orban, Paul Onuachu, Cyril Dessers, Josh Maja, Chuba Akpom, Samu Omorodion and Akor Adams amongst others all in the mix for possible selection.
Based on current form, Solanke would be Nigeria's third-best striker in Awoniyi's absence, behind only both Victors meaning he could actually play an important role at the AFCON in Ivory Coast.
It also helps that Super Eagles boss Jose Peseiro favours a 4-4-2 set up which means Solanke can be one of two strikers in any match if he commits soon enough.
The onus is mostly on the Nigeria Football Federation to approach him though and present the pros of choosing the Super Eagles to Dominic Solanke before the AFCON in January.
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