I nearly left Eagles camp to join Nantes during AFCON – Onyemaechi

Super Eagles defender Bruno Onyemaechi has revealed that he was close to departing Nigeria’s camp to finalise a move to French League 1 side Nantes during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.

Despite the AFCON 2023 being Onyemaechi’s first international tournament at senior level, the 25-year-old apparently prioritised his club career growth in a year where he had just broken into the Super Eagles squad. He had been an unused substitute in two AFCON qualifiers in March, before Jose Peseiro finally handed him his debut in Nigeria’s last qualifier fixture against São Tomé and Príncipe on September 10.

Onyemaechi’s 90-minute-long impressive performance in the game will eventually earn him a spot in Peseiro’s 25-man squad for the competition, where it seemed he was going to nail the biggest move of his career.

According to the 25-year-old, Nantes and Boavista were close to sealing an agreement for his transfer to the French club during the January transfer window. Still, a last-minute detail change from the Canaries forced Boavista to pull out of the deal.

“It really happened when I was at the AFCON, I nearly left the camp for Nantes,” Onyemaechi told EaglesTracker.

“I nearly left the camp and then my agent called me back and said to me that Nantes changed some things in the contract offer they made to Boavista and then Boavista didn’t accept.

“So I needed to stay back although the national team players already congratulated me for moving to Nantes.”

Had the deal materialised, Onyemaechi would have joined his compatriot Moses Simon who plies his trade with Nantes after joining the club from fellow French side Toulouse in July 2020.