PAOK Thessaloniki’s Chuba Akpom has reiterated his desire to play for the Super Eagles at the Africa Cup of Nations competition slated for Egypt in June.
Akpom has been in impressive form for PAOK since the beginning of the season and his club was crowned the winner of the Greek Super League last weekend with a game to spare after they mauled Levadiakos 5-0 to
go five points clear of second placed Olympiacos with the final round of matches to be decided on Tuesday next week.
The former Arsenal attacker told SportingLife.ng that he is still waiting on the Eagles technical crew to give him a chance to prove his mettle in the colours of the Nigerian national team.
He acknowledged that he is not expecting to stroll into the team because of his form for PAOK just like that but that he is willing to fight for the shirt to enable him add a new dimension to the Eagles attack before the start of the AFCON.
“I thank God for the good season that I have had. I have not hidden my intention to play for Nigeria and if I am given a chance I will surely honour it,” Akpom told SportingLife.ng.
“I struggled with injuries at the beginning of the season but I have had a better second part of the season. I am delighted that we have won the Greek League and we are still with a chance to win a double with the final of the Greek Cup also coming up. We have worked so hard and I expect us to secure another win even though it will be
tough.
“It was nice hearing that we were able to win the league this season for the first time for over 30 years ago. The emotion that came with our last weekend victory in the league that cemented our position at the top was awesome. I hope to end the season strongly and pick it up from here next season.”
Akpom stressed that the Eagles will do well at the AFCON because they have very good players and are among the favourites in the competition.
“I expect Nigeria to qualify from that group and go ahead to do very well. The Eagles have very top and talented players and with good preparations there won’t be anything stopping them. I will like to be called to contribute my quota to it too.”
Having featured for the England team from the Under 17 to Under 21 from 2011 through 2016 Akpom knows that it won’t be straight forward for him to be capped by the Eagles at the international level but the
striker insists that he is willing to wait for the call from Nigeria.
Before he secured a three year deal with PAOK in 2018 to bring his 16 years association with Arsenal to an end, Akpom has been sent on loanto Brentford, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Brighton
and Saint Truiden (Belgium).
The striker has played 19 league games for PAOK with five goals to his credit. He also featured in other 11 games in the Greek Cup and the Europa League and he netted once in those games.