FORMER Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker John Fashanu has offered to help convince Liverpool wonderkid Jordan Ibe to opt for Nigeria instead of England ass the race to cap the youngster gathers pace.

 Ibe, 19, has been one of the finds of the season and has been described by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers as a player with a bright footballing brain. Of late, England has stepped up moves to cap the teenager to prevent Nigeria from procuring his services after the youngster's recent sterling performances.

 England manager Roy Hodgson is reportedly considering fast-tracking Ibe’s invitation to the senior squad. However, Nigerian Football federation (NFF) chairman Amaju Pinnick, is keen to sign up overseas-born players of Nigerian extraction for the Super Eagles and Ibe is on his radar.

 Fashanu, who failed to play for the Nigeria national team despite being invited in the 1980s, has already advised Ibe to choose Nigeria over England, saying he stands the chance of getting more international caps with the Eagles than with the Three Lions. He added that having been in a similar situation, he was best placed to convince Ibe and other Nigerian players bred in Europe to play for the Eagles.

 “I was in similar situation as I was invited to play for the Eagles and on invitation I came on three different occasions under Otto Gloria, the Brazillian coach. Sadly, we found that African football was very different from English football.

 "Unfortunately, I couldn’t cope as I wasn’t good enough to play the African football but now, football is the same all over the world. If we go for him fast, which we should do, we can get him, so I warn the young man that if he plays for England, the most he will get is one or two caps like I got," Fashanu added.

 He pointed out that because the standard in England is very high and there are hundreds of excellent footballers who want to play in the England team, Ibe would struggle to become a regular. According to Fashanu, there are millions of players who want to play for the Super Eagles but only a few are really good enough.

 Ibe, who has a Nigerian father, has already played for England at the youth level, so would need Fifa clearance to fe4ature for the Super Eagles. So far, Mr Pinnick has met with English-born Arsenal youngsters Chuba Akpom and Semi Ajayi, who have both expressed a desire to play for Nigeria's Super Eagles.