I Didn’t Influence Abraham To Pick England Over Nigeria – Swansea Boss, Clement

 

Swansea manager, Paul Clement, has dismissed reports stating he influenced his loanee striker from Chelsea, Tammy Abraham, to choose England over Nigeria.

Abraham, 20, who is playing on loan for Swansea, was eligible to represent Nigeria and was reported to have held talks with Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinick.

But on Thursday, Abraham got his first call-up with the England senior national team ahead of their two international friendlies against world champions Germany and Brazil.

According to bbc.com, Clement fielded question concerning Abraham’s invitation to the English team during his press conference on Thursday ahead of Swansea’s league game against Brighton, and dismissed talks of his involvement in the striker’s decision as nonsense. ‎

“I think he’ll cope well,” Clement said.

He’s a confident young man. He needs to take it in his stride and stay grounded.

“I wasn’t involved in any discussion with Tammy about who he wanted to player for.

“I saw one report that I’d told him who to play for- that’s complete nonsense.”

Clement who was an assistant manager at Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, expressed delight that Abraham finally got his first call-up.

He added:”It’s very pleasing news to see someone we’ve brought to the club on loan rewarded with his first call-up,” said Clement.

“His all-round game is developing, including back-to-goal and defensive positioning.

“We’ll have to see. Every level he’s played at he’s contributed. And now he’s got the next test. He’s been picked on merit and we wish him well.”Punch