England or Bust: Jordon Ibe Set to Reject Nigeria Call-Up in Order to Fight for Three Lions Place

Talented Bournemouth youngster Jordon Ibe is set to hand England boss Gareth Southgate a boost by snubbing the advances of Nigeria, in order to fight for a place in the English national team.

That is according to the Sun, who believe that Nigeria will offer the 22-year-old the opportunity to represent their country in the World Cup this summer; which Ibe is eligible to do due to his father being Nigerian.

The understanding, however, is that although Ibe would probably have a better chance of breaking into the Nigerian first-team, the attacking midfielder would prefer to wait for the chance to play for England, and believes that he has the ability to do so.

Ibe has represented England from U18 up to U21 level, but until fairly recently, he has struggled for form at club level.

He joined Bournemouth amid much expectation for a club record fee of £15M in the summer of 2016 but failed to make an initial impression. He failed to find the net in his first season and only started 13 times in the league.

This season he has improved, however, and finally scored his first goal for the team at the weekend, netting Bournemouth's winner in their huge 2-1 win against Arsenal; a goal which will surely be a huge psychological boost for the player.

Barring a miraculous run of form from now until the end of the season, it still seems unlikely that Ibe will be making the plane to Russia this summer, but Southgate will surely be pleased that the player could still be an option in years to come. If he manages to find some consistency at Bournemouth, the future could still be bright for Ibe.