Enyimba FC of Aba forward Ezekiel Bassey has joined Spanish giants Barcelona on a loan deal until the end of the season, the club has announced.
Bassey will spend more time with the B team of the Catalan side, but he is expected to train intermittently with the first team before the end of his loan with the Catalans.
His progress with the B team will determine if he will be promoted to the main team of the team, and subsequently signing on a permanent base in the summer.
Highly rated Nigerian teen forward David Emmanuel is reportedly courting interest from Spanish side Granada and Italian outfit Udinese, even though he is scheduled to have trials with Lillestroem.
Owngoalnigeria.com gathered from sources close to the 18 year old striker, who can also play on the wings that he has been granted visa for trials with Lillestroem.
However there is interest in his services from Granada and Udinese which could see him head for trials there, instead of Lillestroem who first invited him.
The Geelec Academy prospect is known for his quick feet in tight areas and lethal finish in front of goal right from his days as a primary school pupil in Kaduna, where he turned out for Ikon Allah FC.
Injury cost him his place in the Nigeria U19 squad, which went a long way in affecting the performance of the team during the 2017 Africa Youth Championship qualifiers.
Celtic outcast Efe Ambrose will in the next 24 hours seal a move away from the club with Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest locked in talks with him.
Recent reports suggest that Blackburn Rovers who are battling to stay in the Championship and Nottingham Forest who are also not save from the drop are also in for him.
Ambrose told Owngoalnigeria.com earlier today that he won’t be joining Scottish second division Hibernian but he refused to totally rule out a move away this January.
” I am driving to training as we speak. It’s not true am not joining Hibernian but I know where am going soon. You guys should be patient very soon it will be public knowledge”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.
When pressed forward, the 28 year old who will be out of contract in the summer dropped a big hint that he could move sooner than expected.
” I just told you am driving to training, that should be enough for now. Summer is not far off maybe before then you never know”.
fast rising Deportivo La Coruna shot stopper Francis Odinaka Uzoho says he is targeting a call up to the Super Eagles in the nearest future.
Uzoho who recently joined the La-Liga side has wasted no time in making the step up to the first team from the B team where he was expected to spend most of his time following his signing.
He has trained severally with the first team, and his rise could see him make at least the match day squad before the end of the season in Spain, and the former U-17 shot stopper is also eyeing a call up to the Super Eagles this year.
” Progress is a slow process. I believe in one step at a time so am first of all focused on making progress at Deportivo La Coruna, which will could help me realise my dream of playing for Nigeria”, Uzoho told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” Presently there are no much young Nigerian goalkeppers in Europe, so am hopefully that my time will come if I do well for Deportivo La Coruna”.
Louis Ogana is slowly making his way into the first team of Portuguese giants SC Braga by posting strong performances for the B team who are campaigning in the second division.
Ogana is three goals shy from his goal tally last season with fewer games after netting five goals from 15 games, as opposed to last season where he scored 8 times in 29 games.
The 21 year old is in his second season with the team that he joined from third division side Ribeirao, where his fine performances caught the eyes of the team.
Relatively unknown in Nigeria, he moved to Portugal four seasons ago and joined third division side Ribeirao where he spent two seasons with the team in the third division before making the step up to Braga.
Out of favour Celtic ace Efe Ambrose has exclusively revealed to Owngoalnigeria.com that he won’t be joining Hibernian as speculated.
Ambrose is in the final six months of his contract and the 28 year old revealed he already knows where he future lies and it’s not at Hibernian, where he was reportedly said to be heading to before the end of the January transfer window.
” I am driving to training as we speak. It’s not true am not joining Hibernian but I know where am going soon. You guys should be patient very soon it will be public knowledge”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.
Heavily linked with a move to French side Bastia and Schalke 04 of Germany, the Nigeria international was in no mood to reveal where he is heading to in the summer.
” I just told you am driving to training, that should be enough for now. Summer is not far off maybe before then you never know”.
On loan FC Porto midfielder Mikel Agu has once again won the man of the match award for his impressive display in yesterday’s game against Benfica.
Agu ran the show for Vitoria de Setubal propelling them to a 1-0 win over the league leaders, and in the process picked up the man of the match award.
It is the third time that the 24 year old has won the accolade of the best player after a game in Portugal, a testament of how well he has improved after putting aside the injury troubles that has slowed him down in the past.
Once rated as a top prospect at FC Porto, he lost a shot at the first team after pulling off injured in a pre season game with the first team in 2014.
Since then he has been frozen out of the first team set up, and a loan move to Club Brugge didn’t quite go as plan as he he struggled to play games for the team who won the championship.
Despite his struggles, a sign of how well FC Porto rate Agu can best be illustrated by their push for him to sign a new deal, which he did before joining Vitoria de Setubal where he has been delivering on the promises that made Porto snap him up in 2012.
Former Nasarawa United man Shammah Tanze is presently on trial with Norwegian side Lillestroem, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Tanze is undergoing trial with the club alongside another player in the Nigeria Professional Football League called Adah Ogwuche.
The duo have been involved in test games for the team with Tanze scoring a 90 minute winner in the game against Floro to give his team a 3-2 win.
They will be offered professional contract if they impress handlers of the team during the test games, with the transfer window in Norway not closing anytime soon unlike other European leagues.
If successful they will join the Nigerian duo of Ifeanyi Matthew and Innocent Bonke at the club, which has a rich connection with Nigerian players.
FC Porto loanee Mikel Agu who was voted the man of the match in Vitoria Setubal 1-0 win over league leaders Benfica was reportedly watched by scouts of Manchester United during the game.
The Vitoria de Setubal man was for the third time this season voted man of the match for his performances in the middle, as he won possession, broke up play and set up attack with ease for his side.
His performances didn’t go unnoticed as scouts from Manchester United, Genoa, Cologne and Celta Vigo were all in attendance during the game.
Also he has been roundly tipped to be involve with the senior Nigeria national team in their next friendly game in March owing to his performances for Vitoria de Setubal.
The 24 year old also confirmed his desire to see his performances rewarded with a national team call up during an interview picked up by Owngoalnigeria.com online editor.
According to various reports coming out of Turkey Fenerbahce forward Emmanuel Emenike is in talks with three Major League Soccer (MLS) teams about a potential transfer.
New York Red Bulls were the only team mentioned while the other three were not named by sources who broke the news of his proposed move to the USA.
Emenike has rejected proposed moves to Czech Republic side Sparta Praque, Israel side Maccabi Tel Aviv and two teams in Russia namely Lokomotive Moscow and Rubin Kazan.
However it appears like he has given his blessings to a move to the MLS as his agent has been locked in talks with teams from the league.
Already he has been told that he is surplus to requirements at the Turkish side, and manager Dick Advocaat is desperate to get him off the wage bill of the team.
