Belgium top division side Gent are closing in on a deal to add another Nigerian to their books after contacts with the representative of Nigeria U17 star Yahaya Lawali, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Gent are keen on signing the right back who is also on the radar of other teams in Europe after excelling for Nigeria at the U17 WAFU B championship and the U17 AFCON. At the AFCON he picked up back to back man of the match award in the first two games played by Nigeria.
The club have been tracking Lawali who will turn 18 in June next year for the past two years when he was spotted by the scout of the team during a visit to Nigeria. Sources said contacts was made with his representative who is currently in Paris.
A meeting is expected to be held later this week for all parties involved to reach an agreement on what will see the right full back join the B team where his progress will be monitored for a possible promotion to the main team over a period of time.
Three oother Nigerian players are presently on the books of the team in Gift Orban, Goodluck Igbokwe and Ahmed Abdullahi. Only Orban is with the first team and Igbokwe is close to leaving the team with his deal set to expire in the summer.
Daniel Martins
