Nigerian forward Dessers dismisses claims linking him with Belgium Commits his service to super eagles

• Genk and Nigeria forward Cyriel Dessers has distanced himself from reports claiming his interest in represent Belgium and playing for the Old Trafford outfit Manchester United and reiterated his commitment to the Nigerian national team.

The 25-year-old striker was born to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother and pledged his allegiance to the motherland, West Africans in December 2019.

The forward was handed his first call-up to represent Super Eagles under the manager Gernot Rohr in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone.

However, COVID 19 has delayed his debut for the three-time African champions, as the game was postponed indefinitely.

It is understood that recently, he was quoted stating he is still open to representing Belgium but the highly-rated forward has now refuted the claims.

“They made a story from nothing. I didn’t even talk with Belgium and then they make a story,” Dessers said.

“I said I hoped for a call (from Nigeria) in September, but that’s not even sure. That’s the coach who decides it’s not in my hands. It’s just the click-bait sites who take things out of context and make juicy titles,” he explained.

The former Heracles Almelo forward delivered eye-catching performances in the 2019/20 Dutch Eredivisie as his 15 goals won him the league’s joint-top scorer award along with Steven Berghuis.

The striker joined the Belgian outfit in June and has been impressive for the club, scoring three goals during their pre-season games so far.

Meanwhile, his Teammate Victor Osimhen made a u-turn and joined Napoli despite earlier racism worries. Reports have it that he was persuaded after Kondogbia Koulibaly met with Napoli’s president.

The Genk forward will be expected to form a deadly attack along with new Napoli signing Victor Osimhen and Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze for the Super Eagles.

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