Nigeria international midfielder Frank Onyeka has left English Premier League side Brentford to join German Bundesliga side Augsburg, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Onyeka one of the stars of Nigeria at the AFCON, where he played in all of the team’s game including the 1-2 loss in the final to the host Cote d’Ivoire has been pushing to leave Brentford due to lack of game time.

He was linked with a host of teams in Spain but in the end a solution was found for him to join Augsburg in the German Bundesliga. The move is a straightforward loan without an option to buy, reflecting Brentford’s intent to keep Onyeka as part of their long-term plans.

The Nigerian has been with Brentford since July 2021, having joined from Danish side FC Midtjylland.

During his time in west London, the Nigeria international has played 78 times, scoring one goal and registering four assists.

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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will later today unveil Bruno Labbadia as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the start of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively.

Expected in Nigeria later today, Labbadia will first lead the team against Benin Republic on the 7th in Uyo before travelling to play Rwanda three days later.

His appointment was announced by the NFF three days ago, but some key details were missing in the official press release made by the football house and it includes length of his contract, and the key performance index (KPI) that will keep him in the job .

Sources say the NFF want to offer him a ten months deal tied to an extension based on getting to the semi final of the next AFCON, but it could be terminated if he fails to make it to the tournament via the qualifiers. This was contained in the proposal sent to the coach.

Another issue that is yet to be resolved is the aspect of the wages of his assistants, whom we are meant to believe will be three in number and it will include a physical trainer, a match analyst and his first assistant. In the past the NFF placed national team assistant coaches on allowances and bonuses and not monthly payments like the head coach.

Finally is the issue of his accomodation. While the NFF are keen on having him live and work in Nigeria, Labbadia wants to operate from Europe as it will be easy for him to meet, scout and interact with coaches of the teams where his players are, and even the players themselves.

The coach of English Premier League side Nottingham Forest Nuno Espirito Santo says Nigeria international striker Taiwo Awoniyi is slowly getting back to his best after his performance in their Carabao Cup defeat against Newcastle United, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Awoniyi played the entire duration of the game which ended in a 1-1 draw in regulation time, leaving both sides to be divided by the lottery of penalty kicks which the Nigerian unfortunately skied his effort wide.

His missed kick handed Newcastle the win and progression to the next round, but the coach is pleased with the fact that Awoniyi lasted the entire duration of the game as he continues to work his way back to full fitness after battling with niggling injuries in the past few months.

He however said the Nigerian was guilty of so many missed chances in the game,.even before it went to penalty kicks but said it’s expected as he is yet to reach full speed.

On Awoniyi playing 90 minutes…

“It was good. In the end it was clear he was lacking some energy but he worked very hard until the end.

“He had two or three good chances to finish. We want to give Taiwo this opportunity to raise his levels of fitness because the talent is there.”

On whether the penalty miss will affect Awoniyi’s confidence…

“Always. You cannot ignore the (penalty) moment for all of us, especially for the player involved in that situation. But we are here to support him and we don’t have too much time for sorrow because we go again on Saturday.”

As many as five players of the senior national team of Nigeria are facing the prospect of a bleak future at their respective teams with the transfer window set to close in the next 48 hours, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Aside the much talked about case of Victor Osimhen who is torn between making a big money move to Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia or joining English Premier League side Chelsea, a few others are also mulling over their future ahead of deadline day.

Top mong them is Isaac Success who was recently released by Italian Serie A side Udinese despite having one year to go on his contract. His deal was mutually terminated making him free to join any club of his choice, even if he fails to do so before the close of the window.

Lanky forward Paul Onuachu is back at Southampton after a fairly good season on loan to Turkish side Trabzonspor, who were keen on signing him but failed to reach an agreement with his English Premier League side.

Onuachu who is still pushing for an exit hasn’t been selected by coach Russell Martins for any of their league or cup games this season. He can leave after the close of the summer window though if Turkey is his destination as their window last a little longer.

Back from a loan spell in Switzerland, Samuel Kalu hasn’t been given a look in at Watford, and reports says a mutual termination of his deal will be considered if the club fails to offload him to any club before the close of the summer transfer window.

Club Brugge of Belgium are bracing themselves up for a late minute bid for their Nigerian midfielder Raphael Onyedika, who is said to be on the list of top teams in Europe. He has also voiced his intentions to go known to the club.

Daniel Martins

Newly appointed coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Bruno Labbadia has made plans to make some adjustments to the midfield of the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Labbadia will officially begin preparation for the Super Eagles upcoming AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th respectively, after his unveiling later today in Abuja.

Picked as the replacement for Finidi George who left his role two months ago after a poor performance in the world cup qualifiers, the 58 year old German has his sights on some major changes in the midfield and communicated it to head of the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Austine Eguavoen.

His idea is to have Wilfred Ndidi play higher up in the pitch like he currently plays for Leicester City rather than have him sit deep and protect the defence. That role he now intends to hand to Raphael Onyedika after watching his performance in the Super Eagles last game, where he scored against Benin Republic.

The Club Brugge man will be the deepest of a midfield three which will be completed by Alex Iwobi, who will play just in front of Onyedika with Frank Onyeka and Alhassan Yusuf on the bench. One of them will be useful in the event that the team decides to play with a double pivot.

His idea is to pick players based on the opposition rather than stick to a particular set of players, tactics or formation.

Real Madrid were yesterday held to a 1-1 by Las Palmas in their third game in the Spanish LaLiga. A result which means they have won one of their first three games of their title defence, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Coach Carlo Ancellotti picked the illustrious and well respected duo of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jnr in attack with the latter rescuing a point for them via the spot with 19 minutes left to play in the game.

Trailing 0-1 after five minutes, the Spanish giants threw everything at their host in their bid to draw level but met a well structured defence line, which includes one of their former youth team prospect Marvin Park.

Full name Marvin Olawale Akinlabi Park, the 24 year old who has now moved to a more defensive role at right back from an offensive winger didn’t give Mbappe or Vinicius Jnr any joy coming down his flanks.

But who exactly is Park and what is the connection that earned him two Nigerian middle names and an Asian name as his surname?

Reading his full name on his ID, Marvin Olawale Akinlabi Park, Real Madrid found it hard to believe he is Spanish when they made the move to sign him as a 16 year old. They later discovered that the prodigy was the child of a Nigerian father, Akeem Olawale, and a South Korean mother, Hye Sook Park.

Both humble people, who work in a hotel in Mallorca, Park and Olawale first met at the island, where their son was born two decades ago. Using his parent and his place of birth, Park who has been capped once by Spain at U20 level is eligible for two other countries in Nigeria and South Korea.

Highly rated by Real Madrid legend and former coach Zinedine Zidane who gave him his breakthrough in 2021 by playing him in four games for the main team, he left Real Madrid in 2022 and had two separate loan spells with Las Palmas before making the move permanent for €2m this summer.

His rise will no doubt put him in the frame for a senior national team call up from Spain, else one of the two of Nigeria or South Korea will be banging on his doors to have him in their setup.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The recent appointment of Bruno Labbadia as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria has generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians and also former players of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Labbadia was named as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, replacing Finidi George who left his role two months ago after a poor showing in the world cup qualifiers.

His first assignment will be the AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic on the 7th of September in Uyo, and it will be followed by the second game of the series three days later away to Rwanda.

Speaking on the appointment of the 58 year old, former Nigeria international Emma Okocha says the profile of the coach is one that should get Nigerians excited as he get set to begin his role in a few weeks time.

“You have to look at it from the positive side,” the 1990 African Cup of Nations campaigner told SportsBoom.com.

“This position had dragged on for a long time, but we can only now hope the NFF had made the best choice of this appointment.”

“He’s a well exposed man [Labbadia] and looking at his profile with the German clubsides he’s managed previously, Nigerians can get excited. He need to remain calm and focus on the task he’s being brought in to fill. Of course, it won’t be easy, if you look at the state of the team.

“If he has the players to achieve success? Definitely. He has everything he will need”, the elder brother to former Super Eagles captain Austine Okocha reckoned.

He however said the coach faces an uphill task in turning around the fortune of the team instantly due to the position that they are at the moment heading into the AFCON qualifiers.

“The only downside of his appointment is that he’s come in at a time the team desperately need to get results, so it makes his task a real big one”, the former SV Wehen midfielder said.

“We’ve seen the team struggling recently after the last AFCON, so he will need to rebuild and repair a lot of things, which means he will need wins to become a man for the team and the fans.”

The chances of 36 year old Rangers of Scotland defender Leon Balogun playing for the Super Eagles again is very slim, following his recent snub in the list of players called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Balogun have been active for Rangers in all of their games played so far this season, but still wasn’t given a chance to stage a return to the team he last played for two years ago when they defeated Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in an AFCON qualifiers.

Former coach of the team Jose Peseiro binned him after that game , although largely due to his poor run of games at club level during the tenure of the coach which lasted around 22 months, before his departure in February after leading the team to a second place finish at the AFCON.

As we exclusively reported he was among the 35 players who were provisionally invited to the team in a list prepared by the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Austine Eguavoen.

Eguavoen who also trimmed the list to 23 players, which he passed to new coach of the team Bruno Labbadia left out Balogun hence denying him the chance to add to his 46 caps for the senior national team of Nigeria.

” I don’t think he (Balogun) will play for Nigeria again if he isn’t in the team now when he is playing regularly. As players of the team it’s something that we have talked about in the past because he makes us play how we want, but it’s in the power of the coach to decide and not us”, a player of the team said in a private conversation.

The future of Nigeria international forward Ademola Lookman at Atalanta is settled with just few days to the end of the summer transfer window in Europe, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Lookman was a subject of interest from Ligue 1 giants PSG and the 26 year old reacted by handing in a transfer request, which was turned down by Atalanta as they see the forward whose hattrick handled them the Europa League trophy as key to their plans going into the season.

He was subsequently left out of their first two games of the season, but all is now settled with the club and he is set to return to action tomorrow when they face Inter Milan according to TuttoMercatoweb.

Coach Gian Piero Gasperini has made it clear that Lookman who will be in international action for the senior national team of Nigeria is one player they hope can help them make a statement in the season.

His return will also excite fans of the club who have been on the edge since news broke out that their most prolific forward over the past two seasons is pushing for a move away.