Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun is in a race against time to be fit for Mainz 05 first competitive game of 2017 due to a muscular problems with his thigh.

Injuries and fitness issues made him play a bit part role for Mainz 05 towards the end of last year, and same demons are once again threatening his immediate action with the team.

Balogun will undergo a late fitness taste later today, to determine if he will be in action when they take on Cologne in their first Bundesliga game of the year.

So far he has made 11 league appearances for Mainz 05 this season, with three other appearances to his name in both domestic and international cup competition as well.

Celtic outcast Efe Ambrose has spoken out about reports linking him with a move to French side Bastia, but remained coy on speculations about a move to Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

Ambrose has been severally linked with an exit from Celtic this January due to his failure to force his ways into the plans of coach Brendan Rodgers.

However the 28 year old who is due for Scottish citizenship in July says reports of an imminent move to Bastia is way off the mark.

” Am not close to joining any team yet. I read the reports about a pre contract with Bastia, same way have read reports about contract with other teams. I am in the final six months of my contract, which I believe is making talks about an exist louder than expected”, Ambrose told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” Regarding Blackburn Rovers, they are a traditional team with a rich culture and proud history, plus a very good manager in Owen Coyle, like I said earlier am not close to an exit from Celtic yet but we will see what can be worked out in the coming days”.

Aliyu Mahmoud of Mutunchi Football Academy of Kaduna has joined Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The 15  year old left Nigeria for the United Kingdom for studies and was spotted by a scout of Ajax during a game for the team of his school.

” His (Aliyu) mum called me last week to inform me that he has started training with Ajax Amsterdam. Am proud of him, he is a level headed kid who is always willing to listen”, president of Muntunchi Academy Auwal Mutunchi told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Aliyu is the latest player to emerge from the Academy following in the footsteps of Musa Yahaya and Moses John who are with Portuguese giants FC Porto, as well as Aliyu Abubakar who last represented KuPS in Finland.

Aside the aforementioned quartet, about six players from the team are scattered around teams in Europe with four of them in Portugal.

Owngoalnigeria.com in it’s usual style brings to you the performance of Nigerian players for their respective teams after the latest round of games in Europe.

England:

Super Eagles first choice shot stopper Carl Ikeme was sent off in the 72nd minute of Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 loss to Norwich City.

Ikeme was adjudged to have brought down Wes Hoolahan in the box which lead to his sending off, and Matt Doherty had to fill in for him as Wolves have used up their three substitutes.

Still in England Odion Ighalo who is heavily linked with a move to fellow Premier League side West Brom played the last two minutes of Watford’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth.

However there was no spot for Kelechi Iheanacho in Man City matchday squad as they let a two goal lead to draw 2-2 against Tottenham Hotspur, while Victor Anichebe made his return from the injury that has kept him out for three weeks.

Spain:

Nigeria’s sole representative in the La-Liga Uche Agbo was suspended for this weekend tie after his sending off last weekend, meaning he missed Granada’s 1-3 thumping in the hands of Espanyol.

Greece:

In form Super Eagles forward Brown Ideye failed to find the back of the net for the second consecutive game after firing blank in their 0-0 draw against Asteras Tripolis, he also failed to get among the scorers as Olympiakos got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Xanthi.

The arrival of Gabriel Jesus at Manchester City has lead to talks about limited opportunities for Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho, but such talks have been squashed by coach of the Nigeria U19s Manu Garba.

Garba who gave Iheanacho his breakthrough with the Nigeria U-17 team of 2013 is of the opinion that not until they both play in the team, it’s not proper to say one player is better than the other.

” It’s unfair to say Jesus is better than Iheanacho, there are various factors to be considered before drawing such conclusions and for now how is Jesus better than Iheanacho?” Manu asked in an interview with Owngoalnigeria.com.

” They will battle for spots upfront and base on what the coach wants, and who suits his style and formations, sometimes game after game.

” You have to respect what Iheanacho has achieved in such a short time with Man City. A team where top stars like Wilfred Bony, Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri struggled, he flourished, he deserves respect”.

Head coach of Manchester City Pep Guardiola has dropped Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho from his match day squad for their tie against Tottenham Hotspur.

Guardiola didn’t include the Nigerian in his match day squad with new signing Gabriel Jesus taking his spot as the back up forward to star forward Sergio Kun Aguero.

There has been doubts about the future of the 20 year old Nigerian since the signing of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, and going by Guardiola’s action it seems Iheanacho could be a bit part player for the remaining part of the season.

See line up.

Nigeria international defender Kenneth Omeruo has found a new lease of life in Turkey as the defensive midfielder for his loan side Alanyaspor.

Alanyaspor signed the Nigerian on loan for the rest of the season in the summer and he has been ever present for the team, despite his change of role on the pitch.

Omeruo who is traditionally a centre back who can also play as a full back has distinguished himself as a defensive midfielder for Alanyaspor in the last three games he has played.

So far it appears he has somehow made the spot of the defensive midfielder in the team his own owing to his strong performances in the role.

He has been very impressive on the ball and his ball winning abilities have also improved tremendously, and he could maintain playing as a defensive midfielder before returning to Chelsea this summer.

Highly rated Nigerian teen forward Victor Osimhen won’t be making his professional bow for German side Wolfsburg despite recovering from the knock that sidelined him for three weeks.

Osimhen according to those who watched the opening training session of the team was among the top performers during their last drill before their league game against Hamburg.

The game against Hamburg will be their first in the year 2017 and was originally billed to be the game which the Nigeria could make his debut for the German side.

However coach of the team Valerien Ismael confirmed he is yet to be fully fit for competitive games, and plans to slowly integrate him into the team in subsequent games.