Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba says his team will not be affected by the impending absence of Manchester City duo, Kelechi Iheanacho and Chiediebere Nwakali at the Africa Youth Championship in Senegal.
The duo of Iheanacho and Nwakali are set to miss the Championship after their club, Manchester City informed the Nigeria Football Federation that both players will not be available for national team selection for different reasons.
18-year old’s Nwakali and Iheanacho were called up for Nigeria’s participation at the Youth Championship but in a correspondence sent to the NFF on Tuesday, the English champions intimated that while, Iheanacho is injured, Nwakali is set for a loan move away from the club.
But Manu, who discovered both players for Nigeria’s 2013 class of U17’s, says he has other players at his disposal that can replace Iheanacho and Nwakali.
“The team is not built around any one player, as we have several players that can come in and do the job we want. I would say we have adequate replacements for every position on the team,” Manu said.
But despite sounding unperturbed about the impending absence of the two players, Manu admitted that the players will be missed.
“Both of them have been with us since the U17 and when you lose such players, you will miss them. They are very good players but it is unfortunate what has happened. But like I said, I believe we have players that will replace them,” he added.
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