Bukayo Saka says he is proud of his Nigerian heritage but confirmed he will represent the Three Lions of England at the senior level.
Saka, 19, has been handed his maiden call-up by Gareth Southgate for England’s upcoming games against Wales, Belgium and Denmark .
“I feel like I’m really, really proud of my Nigerian heritage,” Saka told Sky Sports.
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“I always still watch Nigeria’s games where I can and I wish them all the best and support them all the way, but I’ve seen the process of how England are transforming and I think in the future they’re going to do great stuff.
“I feel like it was right for me to choose England.”
The winger was born in England but eligible to play for the Super Eagles through his parents and has now pledged his international future with the European country.
“My dad was born here, my mum was born in Nigeria, but they both grew up in Nigeria and met each other in Nigeria,” he added.
“They came over and when they came to England it wasn’t easy for them because obviously, it’s a new country.
“It’s really cold for them, but they adapted well, and as soon as they had me and my brother they always left everything out the way and put us first.
“Especially my football career, my dad always pushed me, he took me to training on days where sometimes it would take two hours to get to training, so I’ll always be so grateful for my parents for the work they’ve done for me.”
27 Comments
Certainly you will be used and dumped by England, that is there nature , no doubts about it , wish you well too!!….Go Super Eagles !!
Forget about been use and dump. What happened to the likes of Rashidi Gemini, Samuel Okwaraji Femi Opabunmi and few others. Were they not use by Nigeria and dumped. Saka has chosen what is the best to him. If anything happens to him in England, they will take care of him. I wish him am the best in his chosen career.
i wish you the very best of luck young man. i stopped blaming the likes of you that chose to play for another country because, I reasoned, untill we get it right here, that’s how it will continue to be. However, I just pray fervently that England doesnt dump you as they did your predecessors who chose her over Nigeria.
Goodluck to you. It’s your choice. I just hope you have a long career with them.
Oh boy. You missed it. You can’t have a long career with england. You are not messi or ronaldo. You will be dumped. They have done that to many players- they will do that to you. England can’t win euro cup and the world cup. Nigeria can win the nations cup in Africa and play in confederation cup. You missed it yound man.nigero would have given you a platform like she has done to many. We won’t miss you though because we have many wingers now who you are not really Bette than. They even have more experience. So best of luck
Please change dis ya name oga abi na madam. You really get problem.
Well in as much as we would have love this lad to play for us, I think he has made a decision already and He is standing by it. We can only wish Him well at this junction and pray things get better for Nigeria. ” I love the way things transform here in England”. The question is how does things transform in Nigeria?
No matter how hard we try, we wont be able to always convince all these players to leave a culture they have known for their whole lives and come and start afresh with us. Some will come, some will not. Thats how it is.
Saka all the best, I hope you succeed in this course of action.
Super eagles will be just fine without you.
In Game of life…You’ll win some, You’ll lose some.
Best of Luck Saka you be hustler like me so I no fit blame you.
But trust me bro…we won’t miss ya.
Congratz saka, u don try… We no go miss u… Naija FA wake up, develop our boiz dem. All dis chasing around of players born abroad, we no need am… Let’s do the needful, if them overseas born wan play for us, make dem apply…
I wish Saka all the best, it is a game of football. The young chap has made his decision.
Omo ale ni bobo yii men, CS Pls stop publishing anything from this guy, let him go enjoy is 2 international cap for the three lion in peace, his eye will soon clear.
F YOU and Your england slavery future. Mumu. Blackmonkey. Bcos u found ur self in arsenal. Ur parents are to be ashamed of ur decision. Right there in UK do you have any other thin thats connect u to ur slavemasters apart from football? Inferiority complex,
What rights do you have to call him a black monkey…? If it was a whiteman that called him a black monkey you would cry about racism….you should be ashamed of yourself. You bringing up slavery in 2020 is the real inferiority complex. His “slavery future” is definitely looking brighter than your own dream future. He his better off a “slave” in England than a freeman in your country. If your country could offer you half of what England has offered him, that your football career that ended in lekki/ajah would have seen you in the EPL too.
Not long ago you were raving about his kid and begging NFF to call him up to play for the SE……all of a sudden you now realize he is a monkey. So much jealousy and hate on an 18yr old…..gosh…!!!
For someone to come out and say he is proud of his heritage and with same mouth says another heritage is his future. Who is fooling who? I called him his soon to be official name in the mouth of his slave masters(blackmonkey). And you dont own the license to that name either. Looking at wat africans have suffered in recent centuries in the hands of these slavemasters, i will not negotiate with any saboteur! We are in the time of rewriting history which will need everylittle sacrifice from everyblack individuals expecially those who knows and can still trace their origins. anyone who chooses to remain in (i wana be a whiteman mentality) like you @Dr drey. Is a monkey. How does black lives matters when their happiness doesnt matters to you. I am not an hypocrate and saka must hear the truth. Haba, how can you reject a call up from ur origin that u claim to be proud of and run to the people who are not happy to see you in their colour? So we are now the people who saka is pating on the back, like a baby abi? If he was even half bretain i will understand, if he wasnt invited by his origins i can still understand. But in this situation i will not understand and will not pretend to do. Give the egg of a hen to a dock, the egg will definately be arshed by the dock but soon after the dock will reject the chik as soon as the hen comes around its a simple science that only mentaly ill black folks fails to realise. @Dr drey, i wasnt desperate to be a professional footballer and if i were to hav been, i will never sell out my birthright for it, this is not just about football but about everyaspect of life. I will always put my origin first nomatter the situation. Without Nigeria, there is no Dr drey or Saka, force that into your skull.
Hahahaha….was it not your fellow black man that sold his own brothers to the white man in the first case…? Was it not your selfish and self centred rulers of centuries ago that sold their subjects to the white man….? Is it not your rulers in 2020 who are still looting your treasury to go and store in the white man’s land…? Is it not your leaders who have crumbled the economies of your countries in favour of the good life the white man chose to create in his own country for his own people. If in 2020 you are still talking about slavery then you are the bigger monkey. Why didn’t the white man go and buy slaves in Arabia and Asia…why did he focus on Africa….simple the black man can easily sell his people for person gains. From north to south, east to west, all your countries are shitholes 60yrs after independence as if the Asian tigers too were not once under colonial rule. Even SA that used to be in the hands of the whiteman has been turned into a shithole by blacks.
Black lives matter my foot. If your lives really matter, then you will stop being for greedy and fix your homes instead of begging others to fix it for you.
Without Nigeria Dr.Drey will exist…so will Saka too. Even the Nigeria itself cannot boast of giving me or Saka anything. Who the Nigeria epp…?! Infact I’ve endured more riddicle carrying the green passport than favours. Even your rulers run out of Nigeria for succor anytime they need some. Black lives matter ko…. black lives are useless ni.
@ Collins id I can understand vividly the message you are passing through.The idea that people of African descent have common interests and should be unified.
Being proud of your Nigerian heritage also means allegiance to the traditions,interests,or ideals of Nigeria.So turning down representation or calls from your country means superior interest rather to a foreign country which incidentally is your country of birth.
This is a tough call because Saka was born and raised in England and has passed through the youth system went to school in England and most of his friends are English,but his parents are Nigerians hence the Nigerian heritage,culture,which he learnt from his parents as the only institution available but not Nigeria as a whole.
So in this case the English in Saka is way more than the Nigerian in him.Besides the pressure from his club coach who wants him to represent England and that of the English F.A. might just be too much for him to turn down.The parents too could be in support of him representing England because of the benefits they tends to derive now and in the long run.
We are all gutted by this decision I am but we should wish the kid a great future with England and I believe sooner or later we shall move on from him.Talents comes and goes,soldier come soldier go barracks remains ha.Super eagles are not bereft of talents but like every team,needs improving and Saka would have improved the super eagles because he’s that good.
My thoughts are simple;
If we (Nigerians) get so emotional losing foreign born players,to the state of hate for that player,how do we think the Senegalese,Malians,Congolese,Guineans,Magreb Africans should feel?! They have all lost players and still losing players to mostly France,Belgium and Switzerland.Angola,Guinea Bissua and Mozambique keeps losing players to Portugal and right now, Spain. Even Ghana has lost a lot of players to England and to some extent, the Netherlands and Germany. Not to talk about the multitude of Brazillians that have played for many adopted countries from Europe,Americas and Asia.
The fact is,it is what it is. No matter how our perception in life, it is a paradox. Every one looks out for number one first;it is all about interest and how it suits one positively. And no one should be hated upon because of their interest as long as it doesn’t affect the person of the other.
Saka has chosen his path based on how it affects him in the positive. It doesn’t make him less Nigerian. That can’t be taken away from him. It is his ancestry. But he is English because that’s where he is born and raised. That is his system.I guess he is just lucky to be privy to both. More like, an Edo boy born and raised in Lagos is a Lagosian;and wherever he chose to represent is all down to his interest (as it affects him positively).
As much as it hurts us losing him to England ,nonetheless,he doesn’t warrant our hate.
If we do want a racially equal world born deep in equity,we would learn to respect decisions as those of Saka’s .
This is rubbish! why did you keep Nigeria waiting? you will have mentioned it from the start that you are not interested in Nigeria, now you are not focusing on your club career again? Stupid boy.
Players choosing to represent one country ahead of another is a product of global mass-migrations that has altered the make-up very many countries including Nigeria.
Whilst watching Nigeria’s TVC news channel recently after the government re-opened the Airports to international arrivals following months of enforced shut-down due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, something caught my eye about one of the arriving passengers to the Abuja International Airport.
A young intelligent-looking white girl told the Reporter that she was “happy to be back home in Nigeria”. She looked very delighted making this declaration in the hands of her approving mother.
They are Lebanese and Nigeria has a thriving Lebanese community who see Nigeria as their own home rather than the country of their origin.
Should that girl – having been raised in the Nigerian system – go on to be a good footballer and then elects to (rightly) choose to play for Nigeria ahead of Lebanon, should she be stoned whenever she steps foot on Beirut?
Should she (an Asian-looking lady) be crucified for picking a country (Nigeria) she sees as home rather than her ancestral home?
It is my view that, in the world we live in now, picking one country ahead of another is an individual decision based on pure choice and this (I think) is to be respected.
I am delighted for Saka and wish him all thr best in his football career. I hope and pray that he goes on to enjoy success in his England career because – let’s face it – there are not a lot of players in the England national team at the moment with the industry to manufacture magnificent moments from multiple roles across the pitch.
Saka is very much feted ubiquitously by the usually frosty English Press. He can only further entrench this position with exciting performances when called upon to kit for the Three Lions.
In picking England, Saka has gone with his heart. It is was he goes on to do with his head and legs that will determine the longevity of his England career.
Saka or Eze choosing to play for England really shouldn’t provoke any hatred or insult but good wish for them. But I strongly feel a lot of people here are only expressing some disgust because of how England is going to dump them like trash anytime soon, wherein same players will start crying blue murder over being treated racially. Eni Aluko readily comes to mind. Herein I understand people’s disgust towards these players. But in my opinion, such anger isn’t worth it, simply because Nigeria was only going to do them a favour, career wise. But if they have failed to see it that way, then good for them; it’s their life and they have got every right to live it however they deem fit. BUT THEN, WILL A FOOTBALL COUNTRY OF ABOUT 300 MILLION PEOPLE, WITH FOOTBALLERS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE MISS ANY OF SUCH PLAYERS, I WILL SAY 100% NAH, NAH, A MIGHTY NOOOOOOO. SO NO NEED TO EVEN BLINK, WE HAVE BUDDING TALENTS BEGGING TO GET A CHANCE. Even as much as I love Ademola Lookman, if he turns around today and says it’s England, I personally won’t scratch to sore,talkless of players I honestly doubt are as good as the ones we have already.
The call is difficult o.
Imagine you are half Togolese, half Nigerian and you were born in Nigeria, will you choose Togo ahead of Nigeria?
I have been following this Saka story with keen interest. I think that most of the fans who have commented on the story so far here have been sentimental and this can be excusable – The fans are patriotic and want the best players home and abroad to represent Nigeria – However, except the intelligent few, most of the fans are missing the point.
Last week, a great fan on this forum wrote this: ” Unfortunately, just like ripe fruits that fall off a tree and go rotten on the ground without being picked, our young indigenous players are being failed by the system that seemed designed only to help waste away their talents and potentials”. He was right on point ! What a cogent indictment of our useless system and structure! No plans, no nothing ! It’s a shame!
However, rather than the people (fans) to sit down and critically analyse and ruminating over the poor state of our grassroots football structure and to work on ideas on how to develop the system or to suggest ways to open the eyes of our football administrators, they’re rather bemoaning the loss of yet another star. How sad the people have eyes but cannot see and have God given brains, but cannot use it properly like is done in other climes. This has been the bane of our society. We failed to realise the secret of the 1994 set of Super Eagles where they came from and how they took the world by storm.
People, PLEASE, FOR GOD’S SAKE, leave Saka and the others like him alone because they have done what they think is BEST for their career and future. Full stop !
Nigeria is STUPENDIOUSLY blessed with all kinds of talents and all you need is good organisation and management and Nigeria will rule the world in all fields of human endeavours, including football. There are many J. J. Okochas around.
Please, leave Saka alone and direct your anger at your leaders who don’t know their right from their left.
However, l thank God for the coming of Gernot Rohr. God bless you sir for the goooooooooooood job you are doing to transform the super chicken into SUPER EAGLES once again !
Well said. When odegbami commented about NFF not having a clear vision and structure, he was condemned. How else do we want this young lads to come play for us. The lackadaisical attitude of the NFF towards the growth of the youth system is appalling.
Sad as it is that Saka has turned his back on Nigeria, we must understand that the young chap is following the first law of nature – self preservation. In the plane don’t the stewardess drum it into your head to put on an oxygen mask before helping another person?
The problem is that our leaders practice self-preservation to an insane height. That’s why all the service chief are of Fulani/Hausa/Moslem stork. Saka is following the footsteps of the malam. Or is it a protest?
“I have no problem with the person that kills me, but my problem is with the person that shows them the way to kill me.
~says a local rat “.
I’ll never have any problem with the likes of SAKA, EZE, TOMORI, ABRAHAM, ALI & co.
But my problem is with CSN that keep on bringing their news on this page.
Even the english media in UK were this young men serve don’t make mention of them the way we do.
If you visit premier league pages all what you see are relevant news that has to do with their hit men like KANE, STERLING, RASHFORD, MAQUIRE, ANOLD, SANCHO, WALKER, PICKFORD etc.
You rarely see news headlines as concerning ABRAHAM, TOMORI, EZE, SAKA, ALI….
Who cares about them?
But completesport would not let us have peace with news about all these UNPATROITIC ENGLISH BORNS.
Wetin we do una oooooooo! @completesport.
Are they the ones sponsoring your site?
Allow their adopted country media to sing their praises biko.
Give us news about KALU, CHUKWUEZE, NDIDI, ARIBO, IWOBI, EJUKE, NACHO et all. Biko
Tankiu.
My person, you have a point.