Nigeria U-23: Why Bayern Munich Left Back Declined Chelle’s Invitation

Rising Bayern Munich left back Richard Ajayi won’t be part of the Nigeria U23 team for the upcoming camp ahead of the start of preparations for the Olympics in Los Angeles, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria have missed out on two consecutive editions of the football event of the Olympic and want to arrest the slump, hence the decision to appoint head coach of the senior team Eric Chelle to handle the team.

Chelle has already drawn up a list of players for the task in the qualifiers which begin in November, and among the names he has on his list is the 16 year old Ajayi who is rated among the best young players at the German side.

He graduated to the U-19s over the winter and has firmly solidified himself as the starting left back for the team despite his tender age. Given this and his promotion to the U-17s as a 14-year-old, Ajayi has a propensity for playing at a higher level than expected of his age.

In pre season he has a taste of first team action and didn’t look out of place. The Nigerian is yet another talent in the academy that Bayern fans can follow with some interest, and his international future will likely spark a debate in the nearest future after he declined an invitation to be part of the U23 team of Nigeria.

We can exclusively reveal that Ajayi spoke with Chelle and explained that his current status in Germany, where he moved to due to the war in Ukraine means he won’t be able to honour the call up.

He however promise to update the coach as soon as his status is cleared with the authorities in Germany.