Fanendo Adi’s come and get me plea to coach of the coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria might have come a little bit of late, as Gernot Rohr is not keen on having the forward in his team.

He has been called up once to the senior Nigeria national team but after failing to make his debut in the back to back game against Egypt during the 2017 AFCON qualifiers, he has not been considered for a call up since Rohr took over.

Adi finished last season in the MLS with 17 goals for Portland Timbers, one less than his tally of 18, the previous season, a sign of his consistency in the last two years but still he is no where near the plans of the coach.

” Rohr is aware of his (Fanendo Adi) exploits, but for now he isn’t part of the manager’s plan. There are options ahead of him at least for now”, a source close to the coach told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” We are loaded in attack, we talking of a team where the likes of Odion Ighalo, Ahmed Musa and Brown Ideye are not guarantee to start, but If he maintains his form he will definitely get a look in”.

The chances of Nigerian forward Henry Onyekuru moving to Russian side CSKA Moscow has suffered a setback after KAS Eupen rejected a bid of €5 million for him.

” We do not have any offer that corresponds with what we want for Henry, hence for now we are not in talks with any team regarding his transfer” Director-General of Eupen Christoph Henkel said.

As exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com , the 19 year old is the prime target of the Russian side in the winter transfer window, a rumour which the Sporting Director of CSKA Moscow failed to deny or confirmed.

They followed up their interest with a bid of around €5 million for the forward who has six goals and six assist this season in the Belgian league, but it was reportedly turned down by the Qatari funded side.

Onyekuru is tied to KAS Eupen until the summer of 2020, and the Belgian side are holding out for a fee in the region of €10 million for his service.

Former England international Trevor Sinclair says the English FA should do more in ensuring that players raised up by the football system in England play for the Three Lions at international level.

The former Manchester City star particularly mentioned Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi and Chelsea wingback Victor Moses who are both senior international for Nigeria, after playing for England at youth level.

Aside the duo, England currently run the risk of losing at least five more talented players raised in the system in England to other nations, a situation which Sinclair says is unhealthy and should be nip in the bud.

“It’s crazy how players raised in the system, by the system are allowed to play for other countries at senior level. They should be a proper plan in place to forestall it. It is looking like a regular occurrence these days”, he said.

” For example it hurts seeing Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses play for Nigeria. Particularly when you narrow it down to how much an asset they would be for England if they have played for us”.

Owngoalnigeria.com understands that a line of communication has been opened between Belgian side Standard Liege and Croatian side HNK Rijeka, for hot in demand Nigerian striker Theophilus Solomon.

His fine form have lead to speculations about his future with Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon and Spanish side currently keeping a close watch on him, but it appears Standard Liege have stolen a march on their rivals.
Solomon is presently one of the top scorer in the Croatian league with five goals for modest side Istra two goals behind the overall topscorer in the league, where he is on loan from table toppers Rijeka.

20 year old Solomon made his national team debut for the Nigeria Olympic team in a friendly tie in Rio, where they beat the host Brazil 1-0 before going to the Olympics where they finished with a bronze medal.

Despite playing only two seasons as a professional footballer he has over 30 competitive goals despite not playing as an out and out striker until last season at Sibenik, where he found the back of the net 14 times.

Coach of Chelsea Antonio Conte says the qualities of Nigerian forward Victor Moses was glaring for him to see from the first day of their pre season training.

Moses moved from been sent out on loan in three consecutive seasons to becoming a regular under Conte, as a wingback in the manager’s 3-4-3 system.

“I could see his potential from the first days of the summer training camp”, he told Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Moses has important qualities, technique, physical strength and the ability to cover 70 metres of the pitch.

“I find it incredible that someone like him has been underestimated”, Conte added.

Moses has become a key man at Chelsea under Conte this season, helping the Blues to hit top spot in the Premier League at the weekend.

Following a statement by the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick that Liverpool highly rated teen Ovie Ejaria will play for Nigeria ahead of England, the youngster has reacted to the comments.

Ejaria, who trained with the Nigeria U-17 team of 2013 but failed to make the squad to the World Cup, where the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Isacc Success among others were discovered is presently an England youth international.

He has progressed quickly through the ranks at Liverpool starring in cup games against Derby County and Tottenham Hotspur before he was handed his Premier League debut by coach Jurgen Klopp.

His performances lead to an invitation to the England Youth team, where he featured in the recently concluded Suwon invitational tournament in South Korea.

The former Arsenal prospect scored in one of the games for England at the tournament against USA, and he has switched his focus to representing England at the U20 World Cup next year.

” It was a really good experience for me, am looking forward to the U20 World Cup with England. Am really enjoying my time with the lads at the England youth set up”. He said.

One time Super Eagles captain designate Lukman Haruna is reportedly close to sealing a January switch to Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The 25 year old has been clubless since leaving Kazakhstan side Astana few months ago, but he has been keeping shape by training with the junior team of Dynamo Kiev.

His move to Partizan Belgrade is already close to completion but he won’t be joining the team until the transfer window re-opens in January.

Back in 2010, he was fast tracked to the senior Nigeria national team after the U-20 World Cup in 2009, and made the Nigeria team to the World Cup, with then coach Lars Lagerback tipping him to captain the team in the future.

However, a poor club career put a stop to that prediction and his comeback to the Nigeria senior team this year didn’t go as planned, as he was yanked off by coach Sunday Oliseh 25 minutes into the AFCON 2017 qualifiers tie against Tanzania.

Since then he has been in the international wilderness and his club form is also a source of concern to many, who rate him highly as he has failed to make any reasonable headway the last two years.

Haruna was one of the stars of the 2007 U-17 World Youth Championship, leading the Nigerian team to glory as captain, a feat which earned him a move to French giants Monaco.

He spent three and a half year with Monaco before leaving for Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine, where he somehow lost his way and failed to really get back to his best despite loan spells with Hoverla and Anzhi in Russia.

In January he moved to FC Astana of Kazakhstan where he spent just three months and played 10 times for the team before his deal was reportedly terminated.

The recent run of the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the World Cup 2018 qualifiers is sending shock waves across Africa, with Cameroonian forward Benjamin Moukandjo confessing that teams don’t want to play the Super Eagles at least for now.

Since the appointment of coach Gernot Rohr, the Super Eagles of Nigeria are yet to taste defeat, winning their three games under the German coach, with two coming in the World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

Super Eagles are top of their group four points more than Cameroon, who they will be facing in August next year, and Moukandjo who plays for French side Lorient says they are lucky they are not playing Nigeria now.

” The fixture favours us a bit. We are lucky that we won’t play Nigeria anytime soon, who are in top form and shape at the moment. We are yet to pick up a win and we can’t say we are high in confidence like them, no team in Africa wants to face them now” He said.

” Anything can happen from now till next year. We will definitely not going to give up on been at the World Cup in Russia, it’s too early to do that. There are lot of games that could go in our favour”.

Portland Timbers free scoring forward Fanendo Adi has sent a come and get me plea to Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr as Nigeria intensify preparation for next year World Cup 2018 qualifiers.

Adi finished the season with 17 goals for Timbers, one goal short of his last season tally of 18 goals during the MLS regular season, however he has so far failed to gain the attention of coach Rohr.

The 26 year old has only been called up once to the Nigeria national team, which was the double header against Egypt but he failed to make the match day squad, he however believes that he is a better player now and ready to push for a spot in the team.

“That I was invited on the bench does not rule me out of the national team. I can only focus on my games and not be distracted. The doors for Eagles are not closed to me as far as I am concern,” he said.

“I just believe it’s about being there at the best time. This is not a platform for me to express what I can do for the new coach, he must have heard or see what I can do. But the truth of the matter is still that I have gotten better credentials to be in the national team. I think Nigerians have not seen the best of me, and I can see many people are eager to see what I can do. And who knows if my own time will come at 2018 World Cup.

“It was a nice step for me, (my first Eagles invitation against Egypt) I don’t see it the way some people are seeing it; and I understand the fact that all of us cannot be on the pitch to play at the same time, “stated Adi.
“I have read it on numbers of occasion that I wasn’t treated well. But, for me, I don’t see bad feelings with the way I was treated. I just believe in what I am doing. Sometimes, your performances may not convince your coach but that does not mean the privileged ones are better or you are a bad player. Patience and time have taken me to this level.
“I am a kind of person that always brings out positive from negative things, so I am always positive. Nigeria is big enough, everybody will have his or her time, though it may look tough especially when you are doing well, but that does not mean I should be feeling bad.
“I enjoyed my first Eagles camp because I was able to see and meet great players and exchange contacts; I am not worried over what happened. I am a lover of Super Eagles and I know my debut day will be special,” he concluded.