Rotherham United are worried that Chiedozie Ogbene will land ‘an amazing move’ because of his Ireland exploits.
But Millers boss Paul Warne isn’t happy with Stephen Kenny, claiming he used his player too much against Belgium and Lithuania.
Rotherham are going to Wembley on Sunday for the Papa John’s Trophy final and need Ogbene firing on all cylinders.
Warne fumed last night: “Chieo unfortunately played 90 and 82 minutes for Ireland and I'm not best pleased about that but it is what it is.”
Ogbene was man-of-the-match against world No 1 Belgium, scoring a sublime overhead kick before assisting Alan Browne’s equaliser.
He wasn’t at his electrifying best in the narrow win over Lithuania, but twice had the ball in the net only to see the efforts ruled out for offside.
Ogbene, 24, is out of contract with the League One club this summer but Rotherham have the option of extending his deal for another year.
That should guarantee a decent fee for the Irish team’s new poster boy who has scored three times in seven caps.
Rotherham are the League One leaders and look destined for the Championship next season.
That could convince Ogbene to stay, but he’s in the shop window because of his Ireland performances and Warne reckons it’ll be tough to keep him.
“You can’t clip people’s wings, you can’t hold people back,” said Warne yesterday. “If Chieo ends up getting an amazing move that his ability deserves, then good on him.
“It obviously makes it significantly more difficult to convince him to stay when he’s doing what he is with Ireland.”
But Warne added: “What a goal that was for Ireland! Chieo’s having a great time, isn’t he?
“He loves to play with a smile on his face and having 50,000-plus Irish fans cheering him on won’t do him any harm.”
Ogbene hasn’t ruled out staying with Rotherham but last week signalled his ambitions to play at the highest level.
Before the Belgium game, he said: “Every kid has ambitions to play in the Premier League.
“I watch a lot of Premier League games with Rashford and Sterling, similar attributes to me, and I want to be like players like that.
“But I have to do my job at my club. I can't dream too far ahead. Hopefully in the future I can evolve into those players that I admire.
“I’ve ambitions to play at a higher level than I currently am in League One. Ideally, I’d like to be there with my club but sometimes that may not happen.”
Ogbene added: “I'm 24, going on 25, and I want to learn the game because we haven't sussed out everything.”
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