JAY-JAY Okocha did more than just underline his undoubted talent this week.

By taking his personal battle with the Nigerian authorities right to the wire, the Reebok skipper also dispelled any doubts over his commitment to Bolton Wanderers.

Whether he signs a new contract or not, he went out on a limb when he delayed his departure for the African Nations Cup until after the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, testing the patience of Super Eagles' coach Christian Chukwu with a display of brinkmanship that even brought a personal attack from his country's sports minister.

It was a tough call for the man. He might mean a lot to Wanderers -- a key member of the team and an undoubted favourite with the supporters -- but he means even more to the people of Nigeria, where his popularity eclipses anything David Beckham ever experienced in England. In return, Okocha wears his nation's colours with pride, dedicated to the cause and determined to give something back to the game that has given him so much.

But he doggedly refused to let patriotism cut across his professional duties to Wanderers, insisting that he had a debt to the club that gave him the opportunity to play on the Premiership stage and which, after all, pays his wages.

As captain of his country -- with all the responsibilities that entails -- no one could have blamed him for reporting for duty, as ordered, at the Eagles training camp in Portugal immediately after the Blackburn game. Under FIFA regulations, Nigeria had the right to insist on their players assembling two weeks before the start of a major tournament.

But he stalled, as did other Nigerian players attached to top European clubs, not only making himself available for the Premiership game against Portsmouth but further aggravating his national bosses by staying back for the Carling Cup -- just as Kanu did at Arsenal.

"These have been very difficult weeks for me," he admitted after his super show against Villa. "I played under massive pressure but I kept pushing, trying to make sure the team was in a better position for when I came back."

It is that commitment to the cause, allied to the genuine sincerity he has shown since he first spoke to Allardyce and his chairman Phil Gartside two summers ago, that has convinced the Reebok chiefs that they are not wasting their breath discussing a new contract that could keep him with Wanderers for another three years.

There is still a long way to go and some hard bargaining to be done before Okocha puts his name to the the new contract he has been offered. There has already been speculation linking him with other clubs -- Germany's Stuttgart for one -- and there are bound to be others who would love to have him in their ranks, especially after his extraordinary performance in midweek.

Wanderers had to break the bank to get him here in the first place and they will have to pay big money again if they are to keep him.

But it is looking as increasingly likely that Jay-Jay will be performing his tricks at the Reebok next season as it is that Wanderers will be playing a fourth season in the top flight -- and thumbing his nose at the snipers who repeatedly refer to Allardyce's army as "a bunch of foreign mercenaries with no emotional ties to the club."

Meanwhile, Allardyce has warned Wanderers' fans not to expect Okocha to go straight back into Premiership action when he returns from Tunisia, however successful Nigeria have been.

The tournament ends on February 14 and Okocha could be back for the Reebok derby clash with Manchester City a week later. But the manager says a more realistic target would be the following weekend -- for either the trip to Birmingham on Saturday the 28th or to Cardiff for the Carling Cup Final on the Sunday.

"We're going to have to give him a week off when he gets back," he said. "He'll need time to recover from the climate, the heat, the lower tempo of the games he'll be playing in ... he'll need to pick up the pace again and that will take time."

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