{"id":906205,"date":"2026-05-16T09:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/big-blow-for-super-eagles-as-brentfords-michael-kayode-decides-international-future\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T09:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:17:17","slug":"big-blow-for-super-eagles-as-brentfords-michael-kayode-decides-international-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/16\/big-blow-for-super-eagles-as-brentfords-michael-kayode-decides-international-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Big blow for Super Eagles as Brentford\u2019s Michael Kayode decides International future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Michael Kayode of Brentford. Copyright: ImagoxLeexDurkin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Brentford<\/a>\u2018s right-back Michael Kayode has decided on his international future after a long-drawn-out saga about a potential switch to the Super Eagles<\/a> of Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 21-year-old joined the Bees from Italian side Fiorentina last summer for \u20ac17.5m, and has featured in all but one of Brentford’s games this season, showing consistency and versatility.<\/p>\n

Last month, it was reported that top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation<\/a> were preparing a direct meeting with the defender after receiving approval from head coach Eric Chelle.<\/p>\n

Born in Italy to Yoruba parents, Kayode is eligible to represent Nigeria since he hasn’t gotten a call-up from the Italian senior side. He’s also not oblivious to the Green and Whites’ interest.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Igor Thiago of Brentford celebrates with Michael Kayode. Copyright: ImagoxJPxFletcher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get Our Sports News First \u2013 Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy that the Nigerian people are happy for me. The opportunity to play for both is amazing,\u201d the youngster previously said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Soccer Michael Kayode: Brentford’s defender picks Italy over Super Eagles<\/h2>\n

Legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon previously urged the Italian FA<\/a> to tie Kayode to Gli Azzuri before he changes his mind. While a call-up to the senior team is yet to happen, the former Fiorentina defender revealed he knows where his heart is.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI will always give priority to Italy: even at youth level, I grew up wearing the Azzurri shirt,\u201d Kayode told Tuttosport<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to achieve this dream as soon as possible, but I have no doubt about which path to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Michael Kayode of Brentford. Copyright: xIMAGO\/EveryxSecondxMediax<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 21-year-old also added that he had discussions with former Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso before the World Cup play-offs in March, but he wasn’t eventually called up.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYes, we also had dinner with other [Italian] Premier League players,\u201d Kayode admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing well, I felt involved even without being called up for the play-offs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, I\u2019m only focused on qualifying for Europe with Brentford. We can aim to qualify for the cup until the end, so we don\u2019t want to let our guard down. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Azzurri shirt would be an enormous achievement, unthinkable until a few years ago, but I\u2019ll think about it in a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Super Eagles of Nigeria. Copyright: Emmanuel Fernandez\/X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brentford are currently 8th on the English Premier League table, two points outside of the top seven places. The Bees have never played in a major European competition (Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League) in their 136-year history.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\"<!--Adefolahan Guerreiro” src=”https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f64d35abfd960f4a5a400c4bb517f7f0be6c48b655560fbdd37e59d9fc9ca58?s=80&d=mm&r=g” height=”80″ width=”80″ loading=”lazy” decoding=”async”>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tAdefolahan Guerreiro\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAdefolahan is a multilingual CAF-Accredited sports journalist and football writer whose work spans outlets like Soccernet Nigeria, Pure Football UK, and Royalsportz. <\/p>\n

With a sharp eye for detail and a background in college sports, he tells the African football story with depth, flair, and global perspective.<\/p>\n

Fluent in English, Spanish, and German, he brings a cross-cultural voice to his coverage, blending insight with accessibility for readers around the world.
\nHis portfolio includes interviews with top Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, Sikiru Alimi, Sodiq Ismaila, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.<\/p>\n

A devoted Borussia Dortmund fan, Adefolahan thrives on the emotion and rhythm of the beautiful game. Away from work, he\u2019s a sci-fi enthusiast and series lover who enjoys exploring how sport, storytelling, and culture collide.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Adefolahan Guerreiro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Michael Kayode of Brentford. Copyright: ImagoxLeexDurkin Brentford\u2018s right-back Michael Kayode has decided on his international future after a long-drawn-out saga about a potential switch to the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports. The 21-year-old joined the Bees from Italian side Fiorentina last summer for \u20ac17.5m, and has featured in all but one of Brentford’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":906206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3577,2005,4578],"tags":[7956,6323],"class_list":{"0":"post-906205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eagles","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-super","10":"tag-eagles","11":"tag-super"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}