In-form FC Porto loanee ‎Mikel Agu says he will not extend his current loan deal with Vitoria Setubal, which will come to an end at the end of the season.

Mikel has emerged as one of the leaders of the team on the pitch with top notch performances for the team in most of the games he has played this season.

Last season he was on loan to Club Brugge, but injuries and fitness issues reduced his impact for the Belgian side, which made FC Porto to send him on another loan upon his return.‎

23 year old Agu has so far played 25 games ‎in the league, earning three team of the week nominations and two man of the match award for his performances.

” I have been told my loan will not be extended by FC Porto, so for now am heading back after this season. Will I play for Porto next season?, I honestly don’t know but I know I won’t be at Setubal at the end of the season”, Agu told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” The national team of Nigeria is the dream of every player from Nigeria, I’m not different and I got a call from somebody at the Football Federation, who confirmed that I am under close watch, he said coach Gernot Rohr is aware of my exploits.

” I will keep on doing my best, and hopefully my time will come. I strongly believe it will come before the end of this year”.

Daniel Martins

Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has been urged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to call up goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama , who retired from the team in controversial circumstances two years ago.

Rohr as reported by Owngoalnigeria.com said Enyeama has issues with the NFF, and that is the reason why he has refused to answer his call to return to the team despite several meeting between the duo.

The Super Eagles are facing a mini goalkeeper crisis with first choice goalkeeper Carl Ikeme battling to be fit for his club side Wolverhampton Wanderers, where speculations has it that he could miss the rest of the season.

If Ikeme ends up missing the rest of the season, he will not be match fit when Nigeria take on South Africa in the AFCON 2019 qualifiers on June 10, and Rohr has never been known to be comfortable with the duo of Daniel Akpeyi and Ikechukwu Ezenwa who are the back up choice to the first choice goalkeeper.

The likelihood of Ikeme’s absence forced the coach to clear the air on why Lille shot stopper Enyeama is not back in the team, insisting he had issues to sort out with the NFF, a claim which the NFF has now refuted.

NFF Spokesman, Ademola Olajire speaking in Lagos yesterday however said, Enyeama had issues with former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh and not the NFF as claimed.

” NFF has never had any problem with Enyeama and I don’t understand why he made such statement and that the NFF is the only reason he can’t return to the Eagles. The only issue I can recall that lead to his retirement from the team, was when he had problems with former coach Sunday Oliseh. Enyeama or any player that Rohr needs to make the Eagles fly is welcomed to the team”, Olajire told newsmen in Lagos.

Ade Emmanuel

Henry Onyekuru destination in the summer is looking more likely to be England, where a host of clubs are currently in the race to sign him.

The 18 goals striker has also voiced his desire to move to the Premier League, and despite reports of interest from West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool, Southampton are the first side to firm up their interest with talks scheduled for next week.

Onyekuru requested for the talks to hold after the play-offs in Belgium, which Eupen are involved in and got his wish granted by both sides, leading to the rescheduling of talks.

Manager of Southampton Claude Puel wants the deal wrap up in time, so as to allow the 19 year ‎old take part in their pre season activities before the start of next season.

A bid of around £7m will be tabled by the Premier League side during talks, but Eupen will no doubt demand a little bit more, and also a further sale percentage if he gets sold to another team in the nearest future.

Daniel Martins

Highly talented FC Porto Nigerian teen forward Chidera Ezeh scored as his loan side Portimonense clinched the second division title, and promotion in style.

Ezeh scored the opener on the stroke of half time to hand his side the lead in the top of the table clash against second placed CD Aves.

Both teams have secured promotion to the top flight in Portugal, and the game was mainly to decide which team will emerge as champions of the second division.

Aves levelled scores to 1-1, before Ewerton handed them all three points ten minutes from the end of the game. A win that also crowned them champions with an unassailable lead after picking up 73 points, with three games to spare.

The goal was Ezeh’s first goal of the season after nine games for Portimonense, the team he joined in the summer on a season long loan from Portuguese giants FC Porto.

Ade Emmanuel

‎On loan Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo will be given a chance by manager Antonio Conte to fill the void which will be created by the departure of captain John Terry at the end of the season.

Sources close to the club revealed Omeruo, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma and Nathan Eke are presently under consideration as long term replacement for the outgoing captain.

Omeruo has been on loan since joining Chelsea in 2013, and this season he has grown in leaps and bounds for Turkish side Alanyaspor, where he has also proved his mettle in other positions bar his primary role as a central defender.

The Nigerian extended his contract with the Blues before heading out on his current loan, and it is believed that he will be given a chance by Conte, when they start preparations ahead of next season.

If the quartet fail to impress the Italian coach of Chelsea, the manager will be forced to search for alternatives outside the club, but only after at least three pre season games.

Michael James

FC Porto are on the verge of losing highly rated Nigerian midfielder Mustapha Buba as Pacos Ferreira have table a bid for the 18 year old.

Buba has been on trial with the Portuguese giants, and despite Porto signalling their interest and initiating talks over his transfer, but talks have stalled due to Porto’s lackadaisical attitude during talks.

Porto want him to play on loan for a year before committing themselves financially, a proposal which FC Hearts, owners of the right of Buba have flatly rejected.

Their rejection triggered Paco de Ferreira who have moved swiftly to ‎offer FC Hearts professional terms, and are also willing to pay some amount as transfer fee.

” I can’t for now tell you if he will end up at FC Porto, talks have been very slow and we are currently considering an offer from Pacos Ferreira, although he is still with Porto”, His intermediary told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” The Sporting Director of Pacos is very keen on Buba. We will see what will happen in the coming days, but for now any move to Porto is hanging in the balance”.

Osas Mahawi

The proposed transfer of highly rated Nigeria youth international Samuel Chukwueze to La-Liga side Villarreal‎ is yet to be concluded due to issues other than performances on the pitch.

Chukwueze spent three weeks with the La-Liga side, but a deal could not be reached immediately due to issues bothering on the terms and conditions of the deal.

Diamond Academy we reliably gathered are pushing the La-Liga side to agree a partnership with them in area of player exchange in the future. A move which held up the transfer for a while.

However we gathered the deal is still on, and might be announced when he turns 18 later in the year, where hopefully the terms and conditions of the deal would have been trashed out.

” Some little things are holding up the deal but it will be sorted out before he turns 18 hopefully. There’s the partnership deal between Diamond Academy and Villarreal in area of player’s exchange.

” Talks are progressing nicely and hopefully it will end well. Villarreal want him, it’s no secret. Hopefully it will work out well for both parties”, a source close to the player revealed.
Daniel Martins

A senior player of the Super Eagles of Nigeria has reached out to the editor of this portal to speak on the reports of the players agreeing to play for free in the remaining World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

” Maybe your source didn’t explain to you in details. We had a meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in London. We agreed that the issue of match bonus won’t make us downtool during the World Cup qualifiers.

” We pleaded with the NFF that we won’t hold the nation to ransom over bonuses, but they on their part have to pay us when they have money, not that we will play for free.

” ‎Furthermore it was agreed that our bonus will be $5,000 for the 2019 Nations Cup qualifier against South Africa in June. So the issue of playing for free is a none starter”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Daniel Martins

Forgotten Super Eagles defender Azubuike Egwuekwe scored at the wrong end minutes after his Nigerian counterpart Gbolahan Salami has given his side the lead but still ended on the winning side as KuPS edge a thrilling contest 2-1 against FC Inter.

Salami netted his first goal of the two games old Finnish League in the 28th minute but nine minutes later Egwuekwe scored an own goal to bring scores to 1-1, a score which FC Inter maintained till the half time break.

Twelve minutes from full time, Egwuekwe costly error was redeemed by Ats Purje who netted what ended as the winner to hand KuPS their first win of the season in what was their first game at home this season,

They started their campaign with a 0-2 loss away to HJK last weekend, and so far all three Nigerian players on their books with Rueben Gabriel completing the trio have all played in the games, although Gabriel has twice been introduced as a substitute.

Ade Emmanuel

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has reached agreement with players of the Super Eagles of Nigeria to play their remaining World Cup 2018 qualifiers for free to bring to an end the constant row over match bonuses.

Nigeria currently lead their World Cup 2018 Qualifiers group four points more than second placed Cameroon , who they will face in back to back games in September when the qualifiers resume.

” We (NFF) have a very good agreement with the players to ensure that row over bonus won’t break out and derail our chances of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia. To be candid we are broke, better to let the players know early ‘, a source from the NFF told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” The players understand our plight, and have agreed to play for free in the remaining games. The aim is to be at the World Cup in Russia, it will be a win win situation for the players if we make it to the World Cup especially for those who will be out of contract during the World Cup period”.
Ade Emmanuel