The Super Eagles’ head coach, Eric Chelle, has left Victor Osimhen and Ademola out of his squad to face Ghana in the Unity Cup.
This was confirmed after the Nigeria Football Federation, or NFF, announced the list of invited players on Wednesday afternoon.
Osimhen and Lookman will also miss Nigeria’s matches against Russia.
However, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, Frank Onyeka, Kelechi Iheanacho, and captain Ahmed Musa have all returned.
The NPFL contingent includes Junior Harrison Nduka, captain of both Remo Stars and the CHAN-bound Super Eagles B, as well as Ifeanyi Onyebuchi and Collins Ugwueze (Enugu Rangers), Sodiq Ismail (Remo Stars), and Waliu Ojetoye (Ikorodu City).
Saviour Isaac (Enugu Rangers), Papa Daniel Mustapha (Niger Tornadoes), Sikiru Alimi (Remo Stars), and Adamu Abubakar (Plateau United) are also on the roster.
These homegrown players will battle for positions alongside recognized names such as Moses Simon, Stanley Nwabali, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze, Cyriel Dessers, Nathan Tella, Tolu Arokodare, and Kelechi Iheanacho.
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Musa will lead the team to the Unity, which takes place from May 26 to May 31. Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago are the four participating countries in the competition.
Russia will host Nigeria in an international friendly on June 6 at Moscow’s legendary Luzhniki Stadium.
The game will be the first senior international clash between the two countries.
Chelle, hoping to test new players and strategies ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, remarked that the competition “will give us the chance to try out a few new players in different roles, helping us to strengthen our squad before the matches in September and October.”
