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 Dzecko and Samir Nasri struggled, he flourished, he deserves respect”.

Watford striker Odion Ighalo is reportedly waiting to get the green light from the coach of the Nigeria senior national team Gernot Rohr before deciding on a move to Shanghai Shenhua.

We gathered his agent Atta Aneke has gotten him a double your pay deal in China with Shanghai Shenhua, same club where Obafemi Martins plays, who are on the look out for a striker to make up for the absence of Demba Ba due to a long term injury.

However the move could end his international career due to the options available to manager Gernot Rohr, hence he is seeking assurances from the coach, who incidentally named him among the Nigerian players he will love to see switch teams in January.

Before the start of last season, the 27 year old turned down a big money move to China but since then a lot has changed in his form at club and international level.

While he was among the feared strikers in the English Premier League last season, this season he has just one goal to his name, which has cost him his starting spot at Watford.

As the Super Eagles of Nigeria rebuilding process continues under manager Gernot Rohr, there are indications that if all goes according to plan, the manager could line up a back four consisting of players with dual nationality for Nigeria.

Rohr has been busy convincing players with dual nationality to switch allegiance to Nigeria, particularly in the defence where they are few options for the coach.

So far the defence has two players with dual nationality in William Troost Ekong, who carries a dutch passport and Leon Balogun who was born in Germany as leaders, with goalkepper Carl Ikeme also carrying a British passport in addition to his green passport.

Dutch Nigerian defender Tyrone Ebuehi has agreed to switch nationality to Nigeria after initially asking for more time to focus on his club career.

Russian born Nigerian defender Brian Idowu was a late omission from the squad for the last World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Algeria, no thanks to issues bothering on securing a Nigerian passport.

Hungarian Nigerian Kenneth Otigba is also set to be given the chance he has been craving for a very long time by Rohr, who will visit Turkey and run the rule on the 24 year old, who plays for Kasimpasa.

All of the above mentioned players are for now, the options coach Rohr is looking at and if he succeeds, it is very possible for Nigeria to line up a back four of players with dual nationality including goalkepper.

Former Chelsea winger John Obi Mikel might not be the same player he was once few years ago, but the fact that a great player like Andreas Iniesta recognises his talent speaks volume.

The Tiajin TEDA of China latest acquisition enjoyed a trophy laden 10 and a half year at Chelsea, surviving so many coaches and over transfer windows during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Five years ago Barcelona legend Iniesta revealed that the 29 year old captain of the Nigeria senior national team is the toughest opponents he has faced.

Iniesta who have come across lot of players in his career singled out the Nigerian as one customer he struggled to, apparently referring to the various times he had faced Mikel for Barcelona against Chelsea.

” I get asked a lot who the best player I’ve faced is. It’s John Obi Mikel. I only wish I was half the the footballer he is”, Iniesta posted on his official twitter handle @andreiniesta8.

The signing of Nigerian forward Samuel Kalu by Belgian side Gent has lead to increased speculations about the future of fellow Nigerian at the team Moses Simon.

Kalu was signed by the Belgian side few days ago fuelling speculations of Moses imminent departure from the team, that presently has five Nigerians on their books.

Among the five Nigerians at the club namely Moses Simon, Samuel Kalu, William Troost Ekong, Rabiu Ibrahim and Anderson Esiti. Simon is the most illustrious and popular.

Linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool few seasons ago, Middlesbrough are reportedly the latest team to have joined in the chase of the Nigeria international.

Simon has long voiced his admiration of the English League and his willingness to cross over to England has been fired up by the recent transfer of national team colleague Wilfred Ndidi to Leicester City.

Victor Osimhen has been officially unveiled by Bundesliga side Wolfsburg after reaching the professional age of 18.

The 18 year old will dorn shirt number 18 for the team as exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com few months ago.

He is now eligible to play in professional games for the team, which his debut most likely to come when the league resumes in Germany.

Osimhen signed a five year deal with the German side shortly after finishing as top scorer at the U-17 World Cup in 2015.

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Highly compared to French midfield anchorman N’golo Kante Leicester City new signing Wilfred Ndidi has given a hint to the fans of the team on what he will add to the team when he eventually makes his debut.

After completing his first training session as a Leicester City player, Wilfred Ndidi believes he will learn a great deal from his new team-mates.

Ndidi finalised his move on Thursday from Belgian outfit KRC Genk, signing a five-and-a-half-year deal with the Premier League champions.

“I feel good. My team-mates are nice people and they have welcomed me, so I’m happy,” Ndidi told LCFC TV.

“My first impression was ‘wow’. I trained and it was really good because it was really high intensity. I feel I can learn a lot here.

“Claudio welcomed me and then he explained to me how the team and everything worked, which I’ve sometimes seen on TV.”

He added: “I want to just try and understand how the game flows in the Premier League and then work towards that.

“For now, I am the kind of player that plays for the team. I try to win the balls for the team – that is one of my main attributes. I hope to achieve a lot here.”

Kelechi Iheanacho says new Manchester City signing Gabriel Jesus made an impression on him the first time they met in 2015 at the U-20 World Youth Championship in New Zealand.

Jesus scored the first goal for Brazil in a game which Nigeria lost 4-2, and Iheanacho who admired the finishing prowess of his new teammates on that fateful day say he is happy to be at same club with the 20 year old forward.

“I haven’t met him but I think I played with him in the Under-20 World Cup, against Brazil, it was our first game,” the Nigerian said after City drew with Celtic in December. “He’s a great kid, he’s a great striker, he has great qualities, he was a great player.

“What we need is to help our club. We need everybody, both the people coming in and the people here, to carry the team along. It’s a collective effort, it’s not a one-man show, we need everybody around. He is my team-mate now so we see him as one.

“I’m going to be happy to see him playing with us,” the Nigerian added. “As I said before, it’s a collective effort and the manager needs to bring his players to help us achieve our dreams this season.”

As exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com few hours ago pictures of Wilfred Ndidi in a Leicester City Shirt has been released.

As reported by Owngoalnigeria.com, he will dorn jersey number 25 for the team, same number he wore while at Belgian side Genk before his £15m transfer to Leicester City.

He was granted a work permit earlier today, which paved the way for his photo shot in a Leceister City shirt, and he could make his debut this weekend against Everton in the FA Cup.

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