Rob DaviesMichael Obafemi has taken the bold move of rejecting the chance to play for Ireland’s U21 squad for their upcoming internationals preferring to take the chance on a call up for the senior squad.
There has been much talk of Obafemi being called up to Stephen Kenny’s senior team after finding his feet at Swansea with much of the Irish media calling for the striker to be included in the next squad.
The former Southampton man is clearly not short of confidence and will now turn his attention to Kenny announcing his next squad which is due on Friday.
“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,” Jim Crawford the U21 manager said.
“The last thing I said to the agent was that if he ever feels that he wants to come to the U-21s, 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.
“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,”
Hopefully the snub won’t backfire…
