Reports in the English media has it that coach of the senior national team of England Gareth Southgate will hand Crystal Palace midfielder Ebere Eze a maiden call up to the Three Lions after a very impressive end to the season.

Eze has blossomed under manager Roy Hodgson, he has scored ten goals this season and six came in his last seven games under the English manager who was handed the role following the sacking of Patrick Viera.

That form hasn’t gone unnoticed by the FA, who have been tracking the 24-year-old for some time and he was in contention for selection in 2021 before an injury ruined his chances and for the World Cup last year.

His chance could come in next month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers versus Malta and North Macedonia according to the Sun. They also said any potential delay could see Nigeria reignite their interest in luring him to the Super Eagles.

It was claimed in the same report made available to Owngoalnigeria.comeditorial team that representatives of the Nigerian team were at some point reaching out to him every week.

“Nigeria have supposedly worked hard to seal the deal for Eze and reportedly used to phone him every week. But rumours suggest they have stopped doing so to relieve pressure on him and not beg”, a portion of the report reads.

One person who actually pushed to have Eze in the Super Eagles was former NFF president Amaju Pinnick, who met with the midfielder three times in a year, but failed to convince him to commit his future to Nigeria.

Mohammed Mowiz

One of the most talked about players for English Premier League side Crystal Palace this season is Michael Olise. The midfielder played a huge role in the turnaround that has seen them beat the drop with games to spare.

Presently a junior international with France, the left footed midfielder was first invited to the senior national team of Nigeria by former coach Gernot Rohr. Two years ago he was included in the list of players for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers games against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively.

Rohr had him on standby in his 24 man list for the games, which were later postponed. Between that time he answered the call by the French U21 side and now appears to have made up his mind on representing them even at senior level. Rohr however did his best to get him.

” It was something really funny. After the first invitation which he turned down citing non issuance of a Nigerian passport. He was told to change his phone number. The then coach of Nigeria was really pushing to have him but his representatives have always had France in mind”, a source close to the player told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Mohammed Mowiz

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) hasn’t hidden their desire not to extend the deal of current coach of the team Jose Peseiro, whose deal will run out in June, which coincides with their final two games in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Nigeria will take on Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe respectively needing just a point to seal a spot in the tournament, which was originally billed for this year but will now take place in Cote D’Ivoire next year.

Peseiro’s deal would have expired by then and even when the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau was interviewed about the fate of the coach, he said no decision has been reached on his future.

As first reported by Owngoalnigeria.com, the football house has already penned down the name of five coaches, who have signified their interest in handling their team in the aftermath of Peseiro’s departure.

On his part, the Portuguese coach is willing to take a pay cut to remain in his job but all of this is subject to an appraisal of his first year in charge of the team, according to a chieftain of the NFF.

” Before taking any decision, we will hear from our technical department and also hold a meeting like I told you some days ago. I can however assure you that if he is going to be replaced then it will be a coach who can be termed as world class. Take my word for it”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Damian Waziri

With various leagues around the world coming to an end, teams have started making plans for next season in earnest with contacts and contract of players of interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen are in the market for a striker and are not in anyway wasting time with targets already identified and approach made as the summer transfer window draws near.

A source close to the top scorer and best player in the English Championship Chuba Akpom told Owngoalnigeria.com that the 27 year old who scored 28 goals this season is one of the targets of the German side, he said talks are already at an advanced stage.

His contract with Middlesbrough, who narrowly missed out on a spot in the final of the promotion play off expires on the 30th of June. Among the teams that have made steps towards signing him on a free transfer is the Bundesliga side.

They only thing holding the deal at the moment is the fact that they are studying other options particularly in England, where two teams in the English Premier League and another newly promoted side have made their intention of signing him known.

Despite their contact, it is Werder Bremen that appears to be the most advanced in talks over a deal, as they have already submitted a written offer with the wages he will earn on what will be a three years deal with the option of another.

Daniel Martins

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has dismissed a petition from Nigeria seeking the disqualification of the U23 team of Guinea on the grounds that, they fielded an overaged player in the qualifiers for the U23 Africa Cup of Nations, OGN reports.

Nigeria’s U23 team were eliminated by Guinea in the final round of the qualifiers for the CAF U23 Nations Cup, which is the tournament that will produce teams to represent the continent at the next Olympic Games. Guinea held Nigeria to a goalless draw in the first leg match in Abuja last March and won 2-0 in the return leg played away from home in Morocco.

The NFF protested against Guinea claiming that one of the players – Alsény Soumah a player of Horoya AC – was overaged.

CAF has now thrown out the protest by Nigeria as Guinea was able to establish that Nigeria’s claim was based on mistaken identity as there were two different players with the name Alsény Soumah.

Guinea have been given the all clear to take part in the U23 Africa Cup of Nations.

Osas Mahawi

Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is opened to lowering his wages in order for him to keep his job as the coach of the team, OGN can exclusively reveal.

Peseiro’s $70,000 a month deal will expire in June and in the wake of reports linking the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with coaches to take over his role , the Portuguese isn’t willing to walk away.

The NFF under Ibrahim Musa Gusau is currently battling to meet up with paying his salaries which was agreed by the former board of the NFF led by Amaju Pinnick. It was said that the wages will be handled by the presidency.

Outgoing minister for youths and sports Sunday Dare made it known back then but that hasn’t been the case and the coach is owed six months of unpaid salaries, making the decision not to offer him a new contract a bit dicey for the football house.

We gathered that if he is to stay on as coach, the NFF will seek for a reduction in his present wage and that will also be the premises for any one who will potentially replace him as coach. The idea is to negotiate a salary that they can conveniently afford.

Sources close to the coach said he is open to the idea as it will keep alive his dream of leading the team to the AFCON and possibly win it. Something he has repeatedly said he can do and even agreed for it to be in his deal that is about to expire.

For now he has the support of the senior players in the team and they are making a case for him to be retained as coach for another year. Their stand has been communicated to the NFF and they will make a decision after the final rounds of AFCON qualifiers in June.

Osas Mahawi

Representatives of former Romanian star Adrian Adrian Mutu have arrived Nigeria for talks with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over the soon to be vacant role of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Present head coach of the team Jose Peseiro won’t be handed fresh terms when his deal expires in June. He will however be in charge of the team for the final two games of the AFCON qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe respectively.

In a bid to immediately replaced him, the football house has shortlisted coaches as first reported by OGN for the role. Among the name is South African coach Pitso Mosimane and per sources Romanian football star Adrian Mutu is also in the list.

According to Wale Ajayi of NSM media, the representatives of the coach are already in Nigeria pushing for a verbal agreement ahead of taking over as coach in June, when the job will become vacant.

As the date for the announcement of the squad of the senior national team for the final two games of the AFCON qualifiers draws near, players who are in the list of invited players have been contacted by head coach of the team Jose Peseiro, OGN can exclusively reveal.

Yesterday, we broke the news about the inclusion of Belgium based forward Gift Orban, who has been handed his first call up after hitting 19 goals in 19 games since his move from Norwegian second division side Stabæk to Gent of Belgium.

We can also exclusively report that Tyronne Ebuehi has been handed a recall to the team with doubts surrounding the availability of Bright Osayi-Samuel, who has nailed the right back slot of the team for the past three games.

Osayi-Samuel is an injury doubt for the game and Peseiro has decided to reward Ebuehi for his fine form in the Italian Serie A for Empoli, where he has three assists in two games. He supplied the pass for the two goals that gave his team a 2-1 win over Salernitana. He followed it up with another assist last weekend in their 1-1 draw against Sampdoria.

27 year old Ebuehi will be returning to the team for the first time since the 0-4 loss to Portugal, a game he didn’t get to play. His last appearance for Nigeria came at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he played 75 minutes of the 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau in their final group game.

Damian Waziri

The viral story about Simoiben Football Academy placing a €5m price tag on Nigeria U17 star Emmanuel Michael has been termed as false by the president of the Kaduna based football academy, OGN reports.

Michael played all of the games of the Nigeria U17 team at the U17 Africa Cup of Nations but his two assists wasn’t enough to power the team for the semi final, which would have seen them pick a ticket for the World Cup.

He was one of the stars of the WAFU tournament, where Nigeria emerged as champions picking up three man of the match awards in five games at the tournament, he scored three goals from free kicks. His future is one that has generated a lot of discussion.

Speaking on his rumoured price tag of €5m, president of the academy Mrs Sarah Moses Simon frowned at the reports terming it as malicious and damaging to the image of the academy, which isn’t built around making the most money from players transfers rather helping them go through the path that will help develop their careers.

” It’s not true. We find it damaging and very malicious to our image. Michael like the rest of the players we have in our set up won’t be sold to the highest bidder rather to the team that will help advance their career*, she said.

The wife of Super Eagles star Moses Simon also said the situation is the same for Benjamin Fredrick, who is with the Nigeria U20 team at the U20 World Cup. He was one of the standout players for Nigeria at the U20 AFCON, and got rated as the sixth best player at the tournament.

” Benjamin and Nicholas Jonathan who was at the AFCON won’t be sold to the highest bidder rather to the team where they will develop. For Benjamin it will be decided after the World Cup while Jonathan is expected to travel very soon for negotiation with a team”, she rounded up saying.

Mohammed Mowiz

The Nigeria U20 team yesterday left their camp in the city of Buenos Aires to Mendoza, where they will be based for the duration of the U20 World Cup taking place in Argentina, OGN reports.

Led by team Ladan Bosso, the team left a day after their 3-3 draw against the U20 team of Colombia, their second friendly game in Argentina after beating Club Almirante Brown 3-2 in the other game.

A total of 20 players arrived Mendoza ahead of their first groups game on Sunday against Dominican Republic. The game will be the first game in the group, with the other group game between Brazil and Argentina billed for two hours later.

The only player yet to arrive in the camp of the team is AC Milan midfielder Victor Eletu, but the back and forth over his arrival has been put to rest as he is expected to leave Italy today and arrived in Argentina by tomorrow.

For now, reports from the camp has it that he isn’t in contention for the first game but Bosso won’t hesitate to throw him in, if he impreses him before the game against Italy on Wednesday, the 24th of May.

Mohammed Mowiz