85 times champions of Portugal Benfica have completed the signing of 18 year old Nigerian forward Peter Osayande Edokpolor from Nigerian academy N-Youth Sports, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Peter have been training with the team for a while and did enough to convince the hierarchy of the club to offer him a deal, which was made official by the club yesterday.

He is expected to start from the lower division which is with the U23 of the club from where his performance will be monitored for a possible promotion to the main team.

The club sees his signing as a coup because they beat other comers to his signing, which was possibly by offering him a faster route to the first team of the team based on his performance. He will also be offered the chance to train with the main team once in a while.

In recent times, he is the second Nigerian to sign for the Portuguese giants following in the footsteps of Tyronne Ebuehi in 2018, but his stay at the club was distorted after picking up an ACL injury on the eve of their first league game, and subsequently missing two years due to the complications before his eventual departure two seasons ago.

Daniel Martins

English Championship side Middlesbrough have agreed a loan deal with Sevilla for striker Kelechi Iheanacho, six months after he was signed on a free transfer from Leicester City.

With no goal to his name in nine league games, the forward whose only goals have come in Copa Del Rey games against teams in the lower division of Spanish football declined an offer from Italian Serie A side Venezia in favour of a return to England.

He is expected to undergo a medical today in the ahead of the move with the hope of playing a key role in their bid to gain promotion like he did in the first half of last season for Leicester City.

As part of the agreement of his loan deal, the wages of the 28 year old will largely be covered by the English Championship side, which frees up cash for Sevilla to register their new striker in fellow Nigerian Jerome Akor.

Daniel Martins

The sudden decision by Saudi Arabia side Al-Nassr to make a u-turn on their decision to sign Nigeria international forward Victor Boniface from Bayer Leverkusen has been revealed, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Verbally agreement was reached for the transfer of the 24 year old Nigerian to the Saudi Arabia side for a fee in excess of €60m and he underwent a medical after reaching agreement on personal terms worth €15m a season.

Al-Nassr made a sudden turn and rather went for Colombian forward Jhon Duran for around €75m, much more than what they agreed to pay for the Nigerian. They also agreed to pay him a yearly wage of €20m.

Explaining the situation that led to the collapse of the deal, Sky Sports Germany transfer expert Florian Plettenberg said it was largely due to the manner which the German side handled the negotiations, accusing them of underrating the Saudis.

“I think Bayer Leverkusen underestimated Al-Nassr a bit, because I think you need to approach these negotiations with Saudi clubs a little differently”, he explained.

“I also think that Al-Nassr made a really bad impression – the player did his medical, the time was invested, the player was missing from training and the last game – then to say ‘no we’d rather sign Jhon Durán’ [made a bad impression]. I think [Leverkusen] had too much confidence in all these verbal agreements and they’ll have learned from that, but again, Al-Nassr made a really bad impression.”

Daniel Martins

Nigeria international forward Kelechi Iheanacho has rejected the option of joining Greek side PAOK and Panathinaikos respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Both side made an offer to the 27 year old who had been told he is surplus to requirements six months after joining Sevilla on a free transfer from English Premier League side Leicester City, but he has turned it down.

With no goal to his name in nine league games, the forward whose only goals have come in Copa Del Rey games against teams in the lower division of Spanish football has picked an offer from Italian Serie A side Venezia as his next destination.

Venezia meets many of his requirements top of which is to still play in a major league under a coach whose idea suits his style, something he feels the Italian side under coach Eusebio di Francesco can provide.

Talks are said to have been very advanced with all parties involved and an agreement is said to be very close with the team, who are four points away from safety.

Daniel Martins

Bayer Leverkusen winger Nathan Tella who has won his spot back in the team says he is ready for another chance with the senior national team of Nigeria if called up by the new coach of the Eric Chelle, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Tella has just one cap for the senior national team of Nigeria and it came in the draw against Zimbabwe in the world cup qualifiers in November 2023. Since then he hasn’t been called up, no thanks to his not too impressive form at club level.

All of that has changed since the turn of the year as he has been involved in all of their games, and has responded with three goals and three assists, including the second goal in the 2-0 win over Sparta Prague in their final game of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

It has led to talks about a possible return to the Nigerian team for the world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively in the month of March.

He was asked by Germany based Nigerian journalist Oma Akatugba if he feels he deserves a chance in the squad, which will be made known by Chelle in two weeks time.

“This is not for me to say. Like I said, I’ve never been a player that says ‘I should be called up’. On merit, I have to work hard and earn my chances. If the new coach [Eric Chelle] thinks I’ve done enough, then I’d happily accept the call. But, if not, that means I have to work harder.” he told Oma Sports.

Ade Emmanuel

One cap Nigeria international midfielder Kingsley Michael have ended six months without a club by penning a deal with Tunisian side US Monastir, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The club announced his signing on their website confirming reports by the local media a week ago over his imminent signing to boost their options in midfield.

A winner of the 2015 U17 World Cup with the likes of Victor Osimhen, Orji Okoronkwo and Samuel Chukwueze among others, the 24 year old left Italian Serie A side Bologna following the expiration of his contract.

During his time with the Serie A side he spent time on loan with fellow Italian side Perugia, Cremonese and Reggina before heading to Austrian side SV Ried. He had a short spell in another Austrian side DSV Leoben.

Michael progressed from winning the U-17 World Cup with Nigeria to the U20 team and subsequently the U23. He played his sole game for Nigeria senior team when he made his debut in 2021 in a world cup qualifiers game away to Cape Verde.

Daniel Martins

Tottenham Hotspur rounded up their campaign in the group stage of the Europa League with a convincing 3-0 win over Swedish side Elfsborg, effectively sealing a spot in the knock out round of the tournament.

The English side have endorsed a torrid season with no wins in seven games in the league , and after an hour it seems like yesterday’s game was going the way of their previous games, before players from their youth team seized the opportunity to shine.

20 year old Dane Scarlett headed home the opener before substitute Damola Ajayi made it 2-0 three minutes and 39 seconds after he was introduced for his debut. He produced a stunning left foot finish from a run he started.

Born in London to parents of Nigerian descent, he was at low league English side Bromley before joining Tottenham’s academy. He made two appearances for the U18s in 2021-2022 season while as a school boy.

His rise led to question about his international future as he hasn’t been capped by either England or Nigeria at any level. ” I am a Nigerian so the opportunity of playing for Nigeria is one that I will be interested in, but it’s still very early and it’s good to have the option of picking between two great countries in football”, he said in an interview in 2022.

Ade Emmanuel

Nigeria international defender Bright Osayi-Samuel has been taken out of the list of registered players at Turkish side Fenerbahce following his refusal to extend his contract with the club, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osayi-Samuel have been involved in a contract stand off with the club over his deal, which is set to expire in the summer making him free to leave the club as a free agent. The situation has left the club disappointed.

When Jose Mourinho was appointed as coach of the team, he made the issue of the Nigerian signing an extension his top priority, but despite am improvement to what he was initially offered he declined to sign the new deal, which will extend his deal till the summer of 2028.

A reported target of a host of teams in the English Premier League, the club are now pushing for him to leave the club before the close of the ongoing January transfer window in order for them to recoup some of the investment they have made on him, since he joined them in 2017 from English Championship side QPR.

Reports from Turkey say he has now been removed from the list of registered players for the season with the approval of the head coach Jose Mourinho. He has been told he won’t play for the club again unless he agrees an extension.

On his part, the right back feels that his next career move will define the rest of his career as he will be 28 on December. He also feels this is his best shot toward joining a team in English Premier League, which has always been his dream since his breakthrough at Blackpool in 2015.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Galatasary have sorted the issue of signing another striker on a permanent basis for their team after reaching an agreement with AC Milan for the signing of Spaniard Alvaro Morata.

Morata is expected to join the team from AC Milan before the close of the ongoing January transfer window after both team reached an agreement for his transfer.

His signing is coming on the back of Galatasary’s failure to land Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen on a permanent deal from Napoli. Their bid of €65m to convert is loan to a permanent deal was rejected few days ago.

Napoli insist on making a decision on the sale of Osimhen in the summer rather than accept the break clause in his loan contract. His transfer fee will be €75m effectively ruling the Turkish side out of the running for his permanent signing.

It’s largely why Morata was signed as it will mean there will be no vacuum when Osimhen departs in the summer as expected after the expiration of his loan deal in June. So far he has scored 17 goals in 21 games in all competitions.

Daniel Martins

Assistant coach of South Africa Helman Mkhalele says he is happy that they were not drawn in the same group with the Super Eagles of Nigeria during the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

South Africa were placed in Group B with Zimbabwe, Angola and Egypt at the ceremony which was held in the Moroccan city of Rabat on Monday evening.

Speaking to SABC Sport before the draw, Mkhalele said: “If I had to be asked which team I wouldn’t want to see drawn with South Africa is Zimbabwe and maybe Nigeria and Benin.

“This is because we’re in the same group in the World Cup Qualifiers.”

After the draw which had Zimbabwe in their group, one of the teams he said he would want his team to avoid , the coach said it didn’t come to him as a surprise that the Warriors were in their group, and termed it a tough group.

“I’m not surprised that we were drawn with Zimbabwe, but our reaction is that it is a tough group because we know each other well and also for the fact that all the teams in the pool have improved.

“We will try to pick up from where we left in the last edition.”

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman