Napoli are facing the prospect of losing Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen before the end of the current transfer window with the striker yet to agree to an extension of his contract, which has two years to go, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Last season Osimhen’s goals powered Napoli to their first league title in 33 years. A feat which saw him attain a hero status in the city of Naples with fans and teammates keen on him staying at the club longer than the remaining years on his deal.

Talks over an extension will resume when he returns for pre season this weekend, but one man who isn’t ready to come to terms with the fact that the Nigerian will likely leave the team this summer is the Trento police commissioner Maurizio Improta.

” Would I arrest Osimhen? No, for heaven’s sake. But I would put him in handcuffs to keep him at Napoli for life. I would tie him to the opponent’s goal, so as to always find him in position close to goal”, he said jokingly to Corriere dello Sport.

Daniel Martins

As the debate over the future of Victor Osimhen at Italian champions Napoli continues, certain revelations is being made about how he was signed by the Serie A side three years ago.

Napoli signed Osimhen from French Ligue 1 side Lille for a fixed fee of €50m with three players going to the French side as part of the deal taking the total worth to around €75m. He was signed after scoring 13 league goals in 27 games in his only season at the club.

The man behind the move that brought him to Napoli was former sporting director of the team Cristiano Giuntoli. He recently left his role to pick up the same position at Juventus, but he leaves Napoli with the reputation of the man who put together the squad that won the club their first league title in 33 years.

It was Giuntoli that brought the likes of Osimhen,  Kim Min-Jae and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia to the club. All the above mentioned players were key to the club’s title win last season but he almost ran into trouble with the president of the team Aurelio De Laurentiis, when he took up the risk of paying €50m for Osimhen.

According to Raffaele Auriemma who spoke to Radio 24 during the show Tutti Convocati. Giuntoli imposed Osimhen on the president, who issued him a query for spending that huge amount on a player during the covid period, when clubs were experiencing financial difficulties.

” Osimhen was taken by Giuntoli and imposed on De Laurentiis for over 50 million euros. The president in the covid period issued him a query for spending that much when teams were having a tough time financially. Today he has Giuntoli to thank if he makes capital gains from the sale of the Nigerian”.

Daniel Martins

Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr says he isn’t comfortable that his present team Benin Republic is in the same group with Nigeria in the race to be at the 2026 World Cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Rohr who holds the record of being the longest serving foreign coach of the Super Eagles was unceremoniously dismissed just before the play off for the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup after five years at the helm. He was sacked by the previous board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led by Amaju Pinnick.

In his absence Nigeria failed to make it to the World Cup losing the ticket to Ghana on away goal rule. For the 2026 edition his team could play a huge part in Nigeria’s participation at the World Cup, which will take place in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.

He is however not comfortable with the pairing according to the local media in Benin Republic. He was quoted as saying that all teams in Africa would love to avoid the Super Eagles because they have stars, who can single handedly destroy a team.

Making reference to the players in the team of Nigeria, he said they have a way of playing that makes it scary for teams who are up against them, especially in qualifiers games. He is however optimistic that they will give the Super Eagles a good run during the qualifiers.

Osas Mahawi

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria have expressed their fears over the recent World Cup 2026 qualifiers draw, which pitched them in group C alongside South Africa, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Benin Republic and Lesotho, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Only the top teams from the nine groups will qualify automatically for the tournament that will take place in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. Nigeria went into the draws as one of the top seeded nine teams.

Reacting to the draws, one of the players said it’s not a group that should scared Nigerians but the main issue is the unresolved issue of who will lead the team during the qualifiers. ” That group isn’t that tough but we don’t have a coach yet”, he said making reference to the fact that the contract of the current head coach Jose Peseiro has expired and there is no talks about an extension or replacement.

Another one, who hasn’t been a part of the last three squads said the uncertainty over who will lead the team has already set them backwards because the qualifiers start in November, and any serious coach will start gathering informations about his group opponents.

” Maybe I am too European but by now a serious coach should be working on his opponents because the games start in November. We don’t even know who is the coach. You guys in the media are not really seem how costly this move is”, he stated.

Two senior players of the team were more worried about the fact that bonuses and all that should fire the team hasn’t been paid since 2021 saying it is a cause for concern. ” Lack of bonuses is a huge distraction. Since 2021 and we are in 2023, then we don’t have a coach. It’s hard to admit but we are already backward in terms of preparation but no one seems to care”, one of them angrily said.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria will begin the quest to be at the 2026 World Cup in November in group C, where they will be hoping to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the 2022 edition which was hosted in Qatar.

With Africa having as many as nine slots at the next world cup, Nigeria will no doubt fancy their chances of picking one of the tickets. They went into the draws as one of the seeded teams, based on the last FIFA rankings which was used in picking the nine seeded teams.

For a spot in the 2026 edition, which will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, Super Eagles will need to navigate past five teams in their group which consists of Lesotho, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Benin Republic and South Africa.

The draws means Nigeria will be up against the former coach of the team Gernot Rohr who is now at the helm at Benin Republic. He was unceremoniously dismissed by the former board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) despite leading them to the play off as group leaders.

Nigeria eventually lost the play off to Ghana after a 1-1 draw in Abuja. Rohr dragged the NFF to FIFA over unfair dismissal and got compensation. This time around he could stand in between Nigeria and another world cup miss.

Perennial rivals South Africa will also be looking to cause an upset against the Nigerian team, which has no coach at the moment following the expiration of the contract of coach Jose Peseiro.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Newly promoted Serie B side FeralpiSalò have pulled a major transfer coup by signing highly rated Nigeria U20 invitee Joel Ideho on a free transfer from Arsenal, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Ideho joined Arsenal in 2020 from Dutch giants Ajax and made the step up from the U18 to the U23 within a year. He failed to force his way into the first team despite taking part in several training session.

At the end of last season he was cut let go by the club with injuries and fitness issues limiting him to just ten games, where he found the back of the net twice. As a matter of fact he has been badly hit by injury the past two seasons.

The same injury and fitness issues cost him a spot in the Nigeria U20 team for the U20 World Cup. He turned up with an Injury that brought his season to a premature end. The disappointment came after passport issues made him miss out on a spot in the team to the U20 Africa Cup of Nations.

He will be hoping for a change of fortune at the Serie B side, who were promoted from the third division after a 1-0 win to Triestina on the 8th of April sealed a first ever elevation to the second division in Italy.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Former Nigeria international Mike Emenalo has been appointed as the first ever sporting director of the Saudi Pro League (SPL), OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

Emenalo, who represented Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup in the USA occupied a similar role at Chelsea for six years precisely from 2011-2017, he was heavily involved in the scouting and signing of top talents like Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohammed Salah and N’golo Kante to Chelsea.

He spent two years at Ligue 1 side Monaco but not much can be said about his success at the helm. That didn’t deter the Saudis from handing him this role which will require him to develop frameworks and also apply the kind of principles that are seen in the best leagues in the world.

The 57 year old will be allowed to bring in his own staff to help him settle down quickly in his new surroundings but he will work with some Saudis in the nearest future in a bid to help them learn the industry and build a career of thier own.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Scottish giants Rangers have announced the signing of Nigeria international defender Leon Balogun on a free transfer on a one year deal , the club has announced.

35 year old Balogun returns to the club he left last summer following the expiration of his deal. He spent the majority of last season at English Championship side QPR.

At Rangers he will be reunited with his coach Michael Beale, who said during the course of the week that he was looking forward to adding more experience to his squad, ahead of their campaign next season.

He becomes the seventh signing of the summer for Beale and he has already joined the team at their training base in Germany, where he spoke about his excitement of returning back to where he now calls home.
“I am just excited to be honest, it is still a bit unreal but it is very real, so I am just really really happy to be back at Rangers – it feels like coming home.”

“Since I have left, I have always felt a lot of appreciation and love from friends I have made in Glasgow and around the club and now that I am back it is nice to say the least.

“I know second is no option, I know what people are going to say very quickly if we are not performing so it is time to get to work, put our best foot forward and make sure we get the results that we need.”