Liverpool loanee Taiwo Awoniyi has earned the praises of respected Dutch journalist Jermain Leitbig for his performance for his loan side NEC Nijmegen even though he is yet to score.

19 year old Awoniyi joined the Dutch side on loan from Liverpool in the summer after a less fruitful spell with German side FSV Frankfurt, who were relegated to the third division at the end of last season.

Awoniyi who scored just once from 13 games for Freiburg is yet to get off the mark for NEC Nijmegen but Jermain has seen enough to judge his future, if he develops as expected.

So far he has played 8 games for NEC Nijmegen and Jermain who has watched six of his games, says he reminds him of legendary Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy during his formative years.

” He has a high sense of positional awareness, very adept in getting into goal scoring positions. He reminds me of a young Van Nistelrooy, always lurking. He is yet to score but that is only a matter of time”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Victor Anichebe has been handed a lifeline by manager of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr, who will meet with the Sunderland forward in England to hold talks with him over his international career with Nigeria.

Rohr confirmed that he will be visiting London to meet with the father of Chelsea teen defender Ola Aina over the player’s international future. He will also meet up with Anichebe according to reports exclusively gathered by Owngoalnigeria.com.

In 2013, Anichebe put his international career with Nigeria on hold, citing neglect after picking up an injury during one of the team’s game. He however made a u-turn a year later but his patchy club form denied him any chance of a recall.

Before putting his international career on hold he played 11 games for Nigeria and scored four goals, no thanks to injuries which restricted him to few games for his club West Brom before he was released at the end of the season,

The Sunderland forward has experienced an upturn in fortunes since his move to the Stadium of light, where David Moyes the man who gave him his breakthrough at Everton is coach.

He scored his first goal in over a year in the English Premier League shortly before the league went on break for international games, netting in the 2-1 win over Bournemouthm.

Former Nigeria U-17 World Cup winner Daniel Joshua says Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong is suspect despite his fine performances for the team in their recent qualifiers.

Ekong has formed a formidable partnership with Leon Balogun in the heart of Nigeria’s defence, but Joshua who won the U-17 World Cup for Nigeria in 2007 as a defender believes Balogun is the brain behind the success of the duo. Soccer fans from US who attend events usually buy tickets online from FTN for the best prices and seat selections.

” Troost-Ekong is good in his own right but I think he is suspect, he is not entirely convincing with the ball at his feet. Painful to say but I think he is overrated,” he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” Balogun is the real deal, a complete footballer, good with or without the ball. He is a defender’s defender while Troost-Ekong is a cultured, old school centre back, pace, power and aerial ability. No real finesse.

” They are working well anyway. I like the nickname “Oyibo Wall”, it gives their partnership confidence to do more. But a suitable back-up is needed for the duo. Gernot Rohr would be worried in the event of one getting injured”.

Nigeria youth international Samuel Chukwueze will in the coming days return to Portuguese giants FC Porto to properly start his career as a player of the team.

Nicknamed “Nigerian Robben” , he returned back to Nigeria after spending few months in Portugal with the U-18 of the Portuguese giants, where he will team up with another Nigerian Moses John, who is also with the U-18s.

He will turn professional on the 22nd of May but he is eligible to be registered by the team for their UEFA youth league campiagn, which is part of the reason why he is returning back to Portugal.

Chukwueze is one of the shining light for Nigeria at the 2015 U-18 World Youth Chanpionship, which Nigeria won in Chile and he was also one of the few positives in the ill fated attempts by the U-20s to qualify for next year Africa youth championship.

English Premiership giants Arsenal were close to signing him but the move broke down due to disagreements over his actual valuation in terms of transfer fee.

The mini goalkepper crisis that rocked Nigeria before their World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Algeria, has pushed coach Gernot Rohr to hasten his plans for Swiss-born Nigerian goalkepper Sebastian Osigwe.

Rohr was forced to hand a late call up to Daniel Akpeyi following injury to regular first choice goalkepper Carl Ikeme which forced him to withdraw from the Algeria tie. Akpeyi ended between the sticks for Nigeria as they ran out 3-1 winners over Algeria.

However Rohr wants options particularly from young goalkeppers and Osigwe who trained with the Nigeria U-20 in 2013 under coach John Obuh, is high on the manager’s radar.

22 year old Osigwe is first choice goalkepper for Swiss third division side SC Kriens who are currently in contention to gain promotion to the second division.

He represented Switzerland at various youth level but switched allegiance to Nigeria, the country where his father hails from and was close to making the Nigeria’s squad to the 2013 U-20 World Youth Championship in Colombia.

Already he has concluded plans to call him up for one of the friendly games of the Super Eagles next year, probably the games against Egypt or Senegal.

Nigerian duo of Kehinde Olatunji Ayomide and Qudus Suleiman have reportedly joined Belgian side Anderlecht, according to online pictures picked up by Owngoalnigeria.com.

A picture of the duo penning contracts with the blue jersey of Anderlecht posted on social media application Instagram was picked up by our correspondent.

The duo were both part of the first set of players called up by coach Samson Siasia of the Nigeria U-23s during preparation for the Olympics in Rio.

They however didn’t make the cut back then, and if the picture is to be believed the move to Anderlecht will be a step in the right direction for the 36 Lions duo.

Qudus played in Cyprus for sometime while Ayomide has no track record of professional football bar stints with grassroot team 36 Lions owned by Liamed Gaffar.

Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has opened up a line of discussion with the duo of Anglo Nigerian Ola Aina and Russian Nigerian Brian Idowu over playing for Nigeria.

The duo are both full backs born abroad with Idowu eligible to represent Russia while Aina is already a full youth international with England after playing for them at different age levels.

However Rohr who is keen on bolstering the options of the Super Eagles in the full back positions says he has held talks with the duo, and will travel to see them later to conclude talks.

” I have plans to visit Aina and his father again in England very soon and Idowu in Russia as well. I’m interested in these two players because they have the quality to make the Eagles great” He said.

” When I spoke with Aina’s father he was so cooperative and reasonable but he wants his son to be given more time to decide”.

Nigeria youth international Jack Ipalibo has emerged as one of the key players for the youth team of Spanish side Villarreal few months after joining them.

He was an integral part of the Nigeria U-17 team of 2015 during qualifiers for the Africa youth championship but was dropped from the tournament team that conquered the world due to documentation issues.

18 year old Ipalibo nicknamed “Nigerian Yaya Toure” made the step up to the Flying Eagles but left the camp of the Nigeria U-20 team, who were preparing for the Africa Youth Championship qualifiers to seal a three year deal with Villarreal.

Ipalibo joined the Yellow Submarines from Diamond Academy in Nigeria this summer, but he has taken to life in his new surrounding really well judging by his performances for the youth team.

The Nigerian is highly rated by the club, and he could make the step up to the main team faster than earlier anticipated if he continues his steady rise in the youth team.

The rumoured transfer of prolific Nigerian forward Henry Onyekuru from KAS Eupen to CSKA Moscow which was first reported by Owngoalnigeria.com has lead to a reaction from the striker.

Although his Belgian side are yet to comment on the speculations, Russian side CSKA Moscow have however reacted to the story with Head of their scouting department Oleg Yarovinsky staying mute on the speculations.

” We have absolutely no comments on these rumours”, he told rsport.ru when he was asked about Owngoalnigeria.com exclusive story on the interest of the Russian side in the 19 year old Nigeria.

Onyekuru who has six goals and fives assists in the Belgian top flight league from 14 games this season was asked by a close friend about the interest.

“It’s all over the papers in Belgium and Russia am aware of it. All I can say now is pray for me, I need the guidance of God above anything else” He said in a social media chat with a friend stumbled upon by Owngoalnigeria.com.

As coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr continue his search for options at right back, 20 year old Nigerian right full back Tobi Adebayo-Rowling could be an option.

Presently Nigeria have used four right full backs in three games since Rohr took over as coach, with the manager openly confessing his search for more options, but Tobi could be his man especially if he moves to the English Premier League as speculated.

According to The Sun, Crystal Palace and Sunderland are both interested in signing Sligo Rovers full back Tobi Adebayo-Rowling.

Adebayo-Rowling was on the books at Brighton and Hove Albion but spent just 12 months with the Seagulls before dropping into non-league with Eastbourne Borough in 2013.

His performances for Eastbourne triggered Football League interest, and it was Peterborough who signed him in March 2015, reuniting with former Brighton youth team boss Dave Robertson.

After just five appearances for the Posh, Adebayo-Rowling was on the move again, as he sealed a move to Sligo Rovers on deadline day in February – again linking up with Robertson, who had been appointed manager of the Irish club.

It now appears that Adebayo-Rowling has impressed in Ireland, as The Sun report that Premier League sides Crystal Palace and Sunderland are both interested in signing the right back having recently scouted him.

*additional report from HITC Sports

* picture credit – The posh