ENGLAND BOSS LIKES NIGERIA-TARGET JORDON IBE 'VERY MUCH'

                              Jordan Ibe in action for Liverpool

England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed he likes Liverpool forward Jordon Ibe “very much”, but he will not rush to cap him simply because the player could also be capped by other countries like Nigeria.

Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh has already met up with 19-year-old Ibe over the possibility of playing for his father’s country even though the forward has represented England at various age-grade levels including the U21s.

According to the Sunday People of London, Hodgson said Ibe has to fight for his place in the England set-up as well as want to play for his team.

“The fact is he’s playing for the Under-21s. They play for the Under-21s because they want to play for England,” said Hodgson.

“But my attitude for that is quite clear – I want players who want to play for England. I am not going to start making players English by giving them a few minutes in games.

“I want Jordon to fight for his place in the team like everyone else. He is certainly a player we like very much and certainly a player we have eyes on.

“It’s far from impossible that he gets called up in one of the next games. But if we do call him up it won’t be because we are worried about other nations.

“We’re England. And when it gets so bad that we can’t get enough players who want to play for England, who want to put the England shirt on, then we are in a difficult period.”

Hodgson further said he was alerted to Ibe’s rising profile by Steven Gerrard a long time ago.

“Many years ago Steven Gerrard mentioned Jordan. He wasn’t at Liverpool when I was there but Stevie, in one of the get-togethers, said we have this young lad who’s something special,” the England manager recalled.

“He had the same feeling about Raheem Sterling too.”