IRELAND'S MICHAEL Obafemi has rebuffed a call-up from the Irish u-21 side and has decided he only wants to play for Stephen Kenny's senior side.
Under-21 manager Jim Crawford named his squad yesterday and confirmed that the Swansea striker refused the call-up to play against the Swedish in two weeks' time.
The 21-year-old has been in profilic form for his club side recently and has scored four times in his last eight games for Swansea.
The last call-up the forward received was back in 2018, under former Ireland manager Martin O' Neill
He dropped down to U-21 level since and has played five times for the side and is still able to play despite the rejection
Stephen Kenny is set to announce his senior side for the upcoming games against Belgium and Lithuania on Friday
@SwansOfficial and @FAIreland striker Michael Obafemi has made it clear he only wants to be part of the senior squad after choosing not to represent the U21s. https://t.co/oe4n2f8iVd — League of Ireland Premier Division (@LoIPDNews) March 16, 2022
Crawford explained what happened with Obafemi with the following comments:
“Michael has made it clear to us before that he sees himself as a senior international player. It’s unfortunate from an U-21s perspective but I’ve had a conversation with his agent and that’s where it’s at at the minute,” says Crawford, who named a 21-man squad for the Sweden tie, with prospects like Evan Ferguson (Brighton), Festy Ebosele and Eiran Cashin (both Derby County) included.
“The last thing I said to the agent was that if he ever feels that he wants to come to the U21s, don’t hesitate to call because we’ll have a conversation around that. In his own eyes, I think Michael sees himself as a senior player.”
Obafemi has had to battle injuries and Crawford believes that being in his Irish camp would have helped the forward
“It’s something that would have stood to him if he’d gone and played with the U-21s. International football can be different. It’s more tactical. But he chose not to. That was his decision.
His agent was honest with me about that and I can appreciate that. If he’s scoring goals with Swansea surely now he comes under the radar of Stephen,” he added.
In other news for Ireland Derby's Eiran Cashin has been called up for the first time after his impressive displays for his club. He is also joined by Festy Ebosele, his teammate.
Crawford spoke about Ebosele and what people think of him
“What’s happened at Derby has given Festy an opportunity to play first-team football, I have been there in their stadium and you get a feel about somebody by the crowd that’s around you. Every time he got on the ball there was a real anticipation,” Crawford added.
"This is the finish of the night!" 👏 — Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 8, 2022
Come for Festy Ebosele's fantastic finish, stay for the acrobatic celebration! 🤸♂️ pic.twitter.com/6WWA9cI8T0
