Head coach of Real Sociedad Sergio Francisco has defended his decision to hand Sadiq Umar his first game of the season as his team grind out a 1-0 win over Mallorca in yesterday’s LaLiga game, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Sadiq hasn’t been involved with the first team of the club for a while as he pushed for a return to Valencia, where he spent the second half of last season on loan to good effect.

However both teams couldn’t reach an agreement on his signing with with Real Sociedad insisting that any loan should come with an obligation to buy, while Valencia wanted a loan with an option to buy.

The disagreement brought about the collapse of the deal and leading to the lanky Nigerian staying at the club beyond the summer transfer window, notably after rejecting offers from other teams interested in his services.

Yesterday he played the final minute of their 1-0 win and Francisco said his not too impressive showing has to do more with the way they played, and said they have to find a way to make him play at his best.

” Sadiq is a space player. We need to get him back . He came back to Anoeta today, and I’ve already said that all the players I have available will be able to participate”, the coach said.

Head coach of Scottish side Celtic Brendan Rodgers has praised the impact of Nigeria international forward Kelechi Iheanacho since joining the club on a free transfer from LaLiga side Sevilla, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Iheanacho added to his goal tally for the club by scoring their lone goal in the 1-1 draw against FK Crvena Zvezda in the Europa League, fresh from last week’s assist against Patrick Thistle in a 4-0 win.

He started his stint at the club with a goal from the spot which helped them to a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock in the league. So far he has made a goal contribution in every game he has played for the team, much to the delight of Rodgers who pushed for his signing.

“I thought Kels coming in was very, very good for us”, the coach who worked with Iheanacho at Leicester City explained after the game.

“We needed someone centrally to hold the ball up. I felt that we arrived into the final third in the first half and then we were either loose with the ball or didn’t hold the ball up.

“It’s one of Kels’ great strengths. He can take the ball in, he can use his body well and obviously allows you to progress up the pitch. So he gave us a really much better platform in the second half.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will go into preparation for the world cup qualifiers with doubts around the availability of three key midfielders for head coach Eric Chelle, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles will be up against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively in their final two games in the world cup qualifiers, and both games are key to their hopes of at least getting a playoff spot, if they fail to qualify automatically for the world cup.

Ahead of the games, Raphael Onyedika has joined Lazio’s Fisayo Dele-Bashiru on the sidelines after picking up an injury yesterday while on club duty for Club Brugge in a 5-5 draw against Westerlo.

He went off injured with what looked like a knee injury with a timescale on when he is expected to be back in action not known yet. It is the same for Dele-Bashiru who was replaced with a muscle injury for Lazio over the weekend.

Although he has returned to full training, there is doubt around the availability of Wilfred Ndidi with Besiktas said to not be in a hurry to rush him back to action owing to his history with relapses. Ndidi went off injured during the Super Eagles 2-2 draw against South Africa.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The Nigeria U17 started their campaign at the U17 WAFU B tournament with a resounding 4-1 win over Benin Republic, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria wasted no time in taking the lead as early as the 2nd minute when hattrick hero George Agha scored his first of the game from the spot, after Boluwatife Thompson was brought down in the box.

Three minute later David Edeh doubled the advantage of Nigeria with a well hit a free kick that left the goalkeeper of Benin rooted to spot. It set the done for what ended as a resounding thrashing.

Sadiq Salihu played in Agha for his second of the game and Nigeria’s third with 20 minutes left to play in the game. Agha not satisfied with a brace put Nigeria 4-0 up with his hattrick with half time looming.

Benin Republic ended the break with a consolation with Jeremy Zannou hitting a low drive from a cut back as both teams head into the half time break.

The Manu Garba led Nigerian team took their foot off the pedal by managing the final 45 minute to end the game 4-1, and in the process their first win of the tournament which is the qualifiers for the Africa U17 AFCON.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Coach of Italian Serie A side Atalanta Ivan Juric says Nigeria international striker Ademola Lookman listened to bad advice following his decision to go on strike in his bid to force a move out of the club during the summer transfer window.

Lookman handed in a transfer request and went on strike for over three weeks trying to push a move to Inter Milan, who were unwilling to meet the asking price of €50m slammed on him by Atalanta.

He released a statement voicing his unhappiness about the club’s demand, citing a promise made to him that he will be allowed to leave for €40m but Atalanta argued that it was only for teams outside Europe.

After starring for Nigeria in back to back world cup qualifiers games during the international break, he returned back to Napoli where he held clear the air talks with his manager, and was subsequently handed a return back to the team.

Speaking after the 3-0 win over Torino in the Serie A with Lookman playing the final three minutes of the game for his return to the team, Juric said the striker was surrounded by people who gave him bad advice.

“He spoke to me and the team on Monday, he was surrounded by people who had given him some bad advice. He has a great winning mentality and now we need to get him back in shape physically,” Juric said.

Head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers Vitor Pereira says Nigeria international striker Tolu Arokodare is not at his physical best yet after his maiden goal in their 2-0 win over Everton in the Carabao Cup yesterday, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Signed from Belgium side Genk in the summer transfer window, the lanky forward produced a stylish dink over the goalkeeper of Everton to open his goal account for his new side.

The Nigerian who is yet to get off the mark for his new side in the English Premier League isn’t at his best level get according to his coach, while giving his opinion after yesterday’s goal.

“When we are expecting a strong shot on the goal, because he has the confidence in himself. Of course, he is not in his shape physically speaking. Larsen today worked a lot for the team, and after Tolu went inside and he helped us. This is the spirit that I want to see.

“Tolu came in the moment that we didn’t have Jorgen to play. The plan was not to play with him 90 minutes, the plan was to give him time to adapt and to start getting minutes. He needs to work hard to get his condition, and he will help us.”

Ade Emmanuel

The head coach of Werder Bremen Horst Steffen has voiced his unhappiness with the performance of Nigeria international striker Victor Boniface in his team’s 0-3 loss to Freiburg in the German Bundesliga over the weekend, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Boniface who is on loan to the club from fellow league side Bayer Leverkusen played the final 30 minutes of the game following his introduction as a substitute with 30 minutes left to play in the game.

Head coach Steffen wasn’t pleased with the contribution of the 24 year old who was introduced with his team trailing 0-2 and was expected to help spark the club into a performance that could trigger a come back.

He failed to follow up his assist in his debut game for the club, rather he ended up losing the ball 10 times, misplaced four out of the 14 passes he attempted and had just 24 touches of the ball.

“I felt he was too ‘everywhere’,” the coach told Transfermarkt. “It’s fine for him to be more central. It wasn’t the way I wanted it”, the coach lamented.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Coach of Fulham Marco Silva has urged the fans to be patient with Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze after his not too impressive debut for the team yesterday in the 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Cambridge United.

Chukwueze joined the club in the summer transfer window on a loan deal from AC Milan, with Fulham having the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the loan.

Since joining the team he hasn’t played in any of the games of the English Premier League despite his availability, but yesterday he played the final 30 minutes of the win over the fourth division league side.

Silva spoke about the need for fans to be patient with the Nigerian after his performance, which brought questions about the reason behind his signing.

“First minutes for Samuel Chukwueze. He needs more time with us and more time on the pitch because he can give us good things too. It’s always good when you give time to adapt and understand better”, the coach said after the game.

Ade Emmanuel

Under-fire Nigeria captain of the senior national team of Nigeria William Troost-Ekong has been included in the Super Eagles squad for the upcoming world cup qualifiers games against Lesotho and Benin Republic respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ekong was dropped for the 1-0 win over Rwanda in Uyo, after his error in the 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe during the last round of games. He got his spot back in the 1-1 draw against South Africa and didn’t make the best use of it by scoring an own goal.

His high profile errors have led to talks about dropping him for the final round of games, especially with the emergence of Benjamin Fredrick who posted back to back performances against Rwanda and South Africa respectively.

Despite the calls head coach Eric Chelle has kept his faith with the 32 year old for the games in October, but it’s still uncertain if he will be picked in the final list of players for both games.

He is in the provisional list of players which will be made public in two weeks time, before a final decision on the 23 man list will be reached by the coaches.

Meanwhile Ekong’s centre defence pair Semi Ajayi is expected to be back in the team after his manger confirmed that he could play some part in their game against Watford this weekend.

Since signing for Hull City on a free transfer from West Brom in the summer, the 31 year old has only played once after picking up an injury that required surgery.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Nigeria international winger Samuel Kalu has become the 17th signing of Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv in the summer transfer window after spending over a year out without a club, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The club announced that the 28 year old attacking player signed a long-term contract with the club after previous stints with Watford, Bordeaux, Gent, Trencin and Lausanne.

Capped 17 times by Nigeria at senior level, he was a part of the team to the 2019 AFCON where they finished third, but got to play only two games due to a health scare that happened on the eve of their first game when he slumped during training.

He secured a shock move to Watford but failed to make any appreciable headway leading to a loan move to Swiss side FC Lausanne, where his contract ran out and he wasn’t signed permanently.

Kalu has been without a club for over a year, before this move to the Bulgarian side where he will be hoping to regain the form that helped him crack the senior national team of Nigeria.

Daniel Martins