Former Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr has revealed why all efforts he made to convince rave of the moment Bayern Munich player Michael Olise to play for Nigeria failed.
Speaking on Brila FM radio monitored in Lagos, Rohr said he first identified the French player born by Nigerian father as a talent in 2019 but that the midfielder was still a teenager then.
“In 2019 I saw this player (Michael Olise) with my assistant Tunde (Adelakun). We had a look on him, we went to watch a match and we tried to invite him, but he didn’t want to join us this time because I think he already knew he can have a big future in a European team.
He could play for several countries of course. This player already was playing well,” the German exclusively told Brila FM radio monitored in Lagos
As at when we saw him, that was six years ago, we saw him so strong. Unfortunately, he refused to play for Nigeria,” he stressed.
Reports later indicated that Olise was placed on Nigeria’s standby list in March 2021 for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
However, he ultimately committed his international future to France, progressing through their youth ranks before breaking into senior football.
Since then, Olise’s career has continued to rise rapidly.
After an impressive spell at Crystal Palace where he played a key role in helping the club secure FA Cup success he earned a move to Bayern Munich at the start of the season.
At Bayern, Olise has already added major silverware to his name, winning multiple Bundesliga titles.
He has also contributed to the club’s run to the DFB-Pokal final and the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
