Ex Nigeria international, Emmanuel Amunike has backed Junior Ajayi, Al Ahly forward call up to the Nigerian national team squad following his second-best goalscoring season since joining the club with 11 goals in 42 games.
Despite being a regular in Nigeria’s youth teams, even winning the U-23 AFCON in 2015, Ajayi has not been given much consideration for a spot in Gernot Rohr’s team since moving to Cairo as he has been called-up just once in 2018, where he played just two minutes in a 2-0 defeat to Serbia.
Al Ahly have qualified to the Champions League final where they will face the winner between Zamalek and Raja Casablanca and are also set to play Second Division side AbouQir in the Egypt Cup quarter-finals.
The Former Zamalek and FC Barcelona winger said that the former CS Sfaxien man deserves a call-up, “I believe that Ajayi deserves to be given an opportunity like every other player and then it is up to him to take the opportunity,” Amunike told ESPN.
“He has been with Ahly for many years now and he has been doing very well and playing at a high level consistently. I think that looking at what he has done with Ahly club he deserves to be given the opportunity, it will now be up to him to make a statement that will convince the technical staff that he has something to add to the team,” he added.
Ajayi has at least two games, in the CAF Champions League and the Egypt Cup, to break his first season’s record of 12 goals as he also lifted his fourth league title with the Red Devils and could be on the verge of winning his first domestic treble.
