Nigeria miss out on AC Milan’s Zachary Athekame following Swiss debut
Nigeria’s hopes of recruiting AC Milan-owned defender Zachary Athekame have ended after the 21-year-old made a decisive senior breakthrough with Switzerland.
Nigeria have missed out on AC Milan defender Zachary Athekame after the promising right-back took a major step towards establishing his international future with Switzerland.
The 21-year-old, who is currently on loan at Lyon, was born in Geneva and remained eligible to represent Nigeria through his Nigerian father before receiving his senior opportunity with the Swiss national team.
Athekame started Switzerland’s 3-0 Nations League victory over North Macedonia on September 26 and immediately made an impact, providing two assists for Zeki Amdouni.
His performances came after an impressive start to the season at Lyon, where he registered two goals and two assists in his first five Ligue 1 appearances.
Before his senior debut, Athekame had made 17 appearances for Switzerland’s Under-21 side and had previously been called up for a World Cup qualifier without playing.
Nigeria’s interest in the defender reflected his dual-national eligibility, but his emergence with Switzerland has now closed that route for the Super Eagles under the circumstances described by reports.
Athekame joined AC Milan from Young Boys in 2025 on a contract running until 2030 and moved to Lyon on loan for the 2026-27 campaign.
His international breakthrough represents another setback for Nigeria in efforts to attract eligible dual-national players, with reports also pointing to previous recruitment difficulties involving Manuel Akanji, Noah Okafor, Simon Sohm and Isaac Schmidt.
