The international future of on loan Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun is still up the air after rejecting a chance to be a part of the senior national team of Nigeria for the AFCON qualifiers, OGN can exclusively reveal.

Balogun has impressed in French Ligue 1 this season, where he is on loan to Reims with 15 goals in 25 games for the high flying team, who are one of the surprise team of the season in France this year.

21 year old Balogun is an England U21 player but he is eligible for Nigeria and the United States of America as he is yet to be cap tied with no senior national team cap for England at any competitive level.

While the United States of America have been keeping a close eye on his performance, it was the senior national team of Nigeria who first made the move to cap him at senior level with head coach Jose Peseiro holding talks with him.

Peseiro told him of his immediate plans to have him in the team for the AFCON qualifiers provided the switch of allegiance process is completed but he rejected the option saying it’s too early to consider a switch.

He is for now happy to represent England with the hope of making progress to the senior team after progressing from the youth ranks, but he hasn’t totally shut down the option of playing for Nigeria or the USA in the future.

Daniel Martins

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is in Italy to hold talks with Atalanta defender Caleb Okoli on switching from Italy to Nigeria, the coach has confirmed.

Okoli currently plays for the U21 of Italy where he has ten caps but the last of his appearances came in September 2021. This season he has played more games than he has ever in the Italian top division for Atalanta.

With 13 appearances this season and with Nigeria having a defensive crisis and keen on having young players, Peseiro has revealed that he intends to hold talks with the 21 year old on representing Nigeria, with the hope that his teammate Ademola Lookman will help convince him as well.

It’s a follow up to what he said last year about the defender and he said after today’s game between Napoli and Atalanta he will hold talks with him and other Nigerian players playing in the Serie A.

“This is fundamental. Cyriel Dessers from Cremonese, Ola Aina at Torino, Tyrone Ebuehi from Empoli, Kingsley Ezhibue and Isaac Success from Udinese and… Caleb Okoli from Atalanta, now with the Under 21 team. I would like him to choose Nigeria. Who knows, maybe through Ademola Lookman”, he said to Ilinapolionline.com.

Mohammed Mowiz 

The Nigeria U20 team won Bronze at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Tunisia 4-0 in the third place match yesterday. Their most convincing performance at the tournament which ends today.

Mohammed Beji, Ahmed Abdullahi and a brace from Jude Sunday sealed the win that brought their participation at the tournament to an end with a podium finish, in addition to qualifying for the World Cup which takes place in Indonesia in the month of May.

A scout who was at the tournament to scout for teams picked five Nigerian players he think will be able to crack it at teams in Europe even though the team still requires a lot of work before the World Cup. He pointed the attack as the main problem of the team.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he sent to OGN his report on the five players he thinks distinguished themselves for Nigeria at the tournament and without a doubt will be the target of some European teams in the summer.

5. Jude Sunday – He has the raw burst of pace and he is very direct. Took his two goals against Tunisia really well and also caused Gambia all manners of trouble in the semi final when he was introduced. Clubs in Europe like his type for their direct approach.

4. Chijioke Anigboso – Calmness personified and dealt with crosses better than any goalkeeper at the tournament. His ball handling is also very good plus he stands at an impressive height. I like that he commands his box and teams admire goalkeepers with such ability.

3. Solomon Agbalaka- The thing is that he might likely end up as centre back and in this world right now , left footed centre backs are like gold and he has it in him to end there. As a left back he isn’t one you can go past easily although he has to work on his final ball but as a centre back, I think he needs little fine tuning to be a beast.

2. Abel Ogwuche – Loves a tackle, good in the air and also very comfortable in possession. It’s crazy how he still plays in the Swedish second division but he won’t stay long there. Personally I think he won’t be out of place at any team he goes to.

1. Benjamin Fredrick – My top pick from the Nigerian team. He didn’t pick a single booking yet made more tackles than any Nigerian player, strong in the air and his ability to play from the back is the best I have seen in a long while from a young footballer. Listen to me, he played every minute for Nigeria at the tournament yet committed only one foul.

Osas Mahawi

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has submitted the list of players who will prosecute the Super Eagles back to back Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Guinea Bissau.

Nigeria will host the first leg in Abuja on the 24th of March before travelling to take on Guinea Bissau at their base and ahead of the games, Peseiro has picked 25 players who will represent Nigeria. A win for Nigeria in both games will seal their sport at the 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast.

We exclusively gathered that he has submitted the list of players and it will be made public after this weekend round of games in Europe. The idea is to see those who will come through unscathed in the event of any injury, a replacement will be named instead.

” It will be made public next week. We have to wait to see the weekend games and after that see those we might need to replace. The list is here with me and it has three goakeepers, four strikers, eight defenders, six midfielders and four wingers”, a team source told OGN.

Damian Waziri

Following the closure of the January transfer window for players who are under contracts with respective clubs, attention has now shifted to the summer transfer window which is around two months away.

Several Nigerian players are expected to be on the move in the summer particularly the ones who are into the final year of their contract with the teams and those who will be out of contract as well.

Players representatives are key in helping players fulfill their ambition of switching teams as they use their links and connection to teams in making transfer happen. They also handle negotiations on behalf of players.

Nigeria international winger Moses Simon is one of the players expected to be on the move in the summer with his deal at French side Nantes left with a year to run in the summer. Ahead of the opening of the window he has decided to switch agents.

Simon has joined CAA Base from DW-Sport where he has been the past four years. CAA Base handle the affair of top football stars like Raphael Varane, Kingsley Coman, Richarlison, James Madisson, Heung Min-Son and Eberechi Eze among others.

The agency announced his capture on their official social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He becomes the second senior international of Nigeria on their books with Sadiq Umar of Real Sociedad, the other Super Eagles player represented by the UK based agency.

Mohammed Mowiz

It’s very easy and convenient to look at the U20 team of Nigeria and complain about how poor they were at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations, where they will play at in the losers’s final after losing 0-1 in the semi final to Gambia.

The display of the Nigerian team was termed as boring by a lot of people going by the pedigree of Nigeria in youth football in Africa and the world to an extent. The team failed to entertain or play in any way that can be said to be the typical way a Nigerian team should play.

All of that could probably have been better if head coach of the team Ladan Bosso caved in to pressure from club owners and agents to include their players despite evidences that they were above the age limit.

OGN supremo, Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman who covered the team from the early days of their formation till date said a lot of players who were part of the preparation were axed after it was discovered that they falsify their ages. Some even travelled out of the country with a passport that is different from the one they are using now.

” I am surprised people are not asking questions about some of the players who did during well during the training camp in Abuja. I can tell you that players who scored 75% on their goals while in camp where axed over age falsification. Bosso deserve praises for what he did”, Mowiz revealed.

” The pressure from some club owners and agents was mad but he held his own against the good of his team at the tournament. I remember when I asked about a player and he told me he has issues with his documenta. My next question was how will you cope? He said the team rather struggle than for Nigeria to be banned from youth football.

” Three of them he told me travelled for trails abroad for trials with a passport that isn’t the same age with the one they have now. Also players from the NPFL with different ages on the Domestic Transfer Matching System (DTMS) were also axed. He did all that for the good of Nigeria in the future”, he rounded up saying.

The tenure of former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has been described as the worst ever for players of the senior national team of Nigeria in terms of their bonuses and their other entitlement.

Pinnick was at the helm as president of the football body in Nigeria for eight years and was only forced out after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The Delta state born administrator was aiming for a third time in office before the failure to qualify for the World Cup made his dream unrealistic.

He has been succeeded by Ibrahim Musa Gusau but the mess he left behind will still hunt the present board especially in the area of unpaid bonuses. A senior player of the team said they didn’t receive any bonus in the last two years of his reign as president.

” It can’t be that bad again and I am not sure it has ever been that bad. For two years that I was in the team not a single bonus was paid to us. The senior players told us they got their bonus of the 2019 AFCON in 2021. He left without making the payment and now the new board will have to settle us*, he told OGN on the condition of anonymity.

On the amount due to each player he said from his ends and several other players, the former president of the NFF who is now a FIFA executive committee member left them each with around $1000,000 unpaid in bonuses.

” I have not been in the team for a while but for the period of time I was there and my recent interaction from my teammates it is around $100,000 per player. I heard the new president will meet with the captains to clear it up. For now I’m afraid we might never get that money back”, he rounded up saying.

The future of Victor Osimhen at Napoli might be in doubt but the club appear not to be bothered over it and have started making plans for how the team will look like next season with the Nigerian still leading their attack, OGN understands.

Osimhen is the top scorer in the Italian Serie A with 19 goal for Napoli but with two years left to run on his deal other clubs are weighing up the option of having the Nigeria, although Napoli insist his future is still at the club.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport, the sporting director of Napoli Cristiano Giuntoli has identified Atalanta wing forward Ademola Lookman as one of the players to pair Osimhen in the attack of the champions elect of the Serie A.

Lookman has 12 goals in 24 Serie A games this season in what is his first season at the club following his permanent transfer from German side RB Leipzig. Napoli have plans of improving their attack and he is among a shortlist of three names.

“Giuntoli would have set his sights on three players currently with Atalanta. The first is Koopmeiners, an old acquaintance, if you like, from Napoli who had targeted him since his AZ days”, a report on the site reads.

“He  will almost certainly not be at Maradona due to a physical problem, but his name is among the first to strengthen the midfield today. Then there are the goalscoring twins Hojlund and Lookman”, it concluded.

Daniel Martins 

The Nigeria U20 team will on Friday take on Tunisia in the third place match of the ongoing Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt after failing to reach the final by losing 0-1 to Gambia in the semi final.

Head coach of the team Ladan Bosso has already said he will Improved on the squad ahead of the World Cup in Indonesia with his focus more on the attack of the team. All the strikers he took to the tournament none had a goal or an assist.

OGN editor in chief Mohammed Mowiz picks five players who can help the team fly high at the U20 World Cup on the strength of what he has seen so far at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations after five games.

George Ilenikhena ( Amiens) – At the age of 16, the Lagos born forward has already stamped his feet in the first team of French Ligue 2 side Amiens.

He holds the record of the first player born in 2006 to score in one of the top two leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain courtesy of that stoppage time equaliser for Amiens against Bordeaux. He was born after the retirement of legendary France star Zinedine Zidane.

Despite his tender age, he has scored six goals in seven games for the U19 team and once in Ligue 2 for the main team from 8 games. He has what it takes to solve some of the problem we noticed in the attack of the team

Ademola Ola-Adebomi ( Crystal Palace) – He was at tha camp of the team for three days and missed out on the squad for the U20 AFCON due to no real test game to access him for the period of time he was around. Already he has played for the first team in a mid season friendly game against Manchester United.

In the Premier League 2, he has emerged as one of the first name on the team sheet for games with his record of four goals in 13 games not the only thing to admire. His hold up play and assurance on the ball has also caught the eyes. He could be the team’s battling ram at the World Cup if considered.

Joel Ideho ( Arsenal) – A no brainer on the flanks    as he is heavily loved by Bosso after training twice with the team before the AFCON. Provided his passport issue is sorted his inclusion in the squad for the World Cup seems like a done deal.

Ebenezer Akinsanmiro (Inter Milan) – A €1m signing by Inter Milan from Remo Stars. The team lacked a ball carrier in the absence of the injured Daniel Daga. This is where Akinsanmiro will come handy. Since his move to the Italian side he has played in all of the games since his debut two weeks ago.

Victory Beniangba – The hottest among the players listed to boost the team. The former Bayelsa United forward has put behind him the controversy that almost claimed his career, when Spanish side Celta Vigo claimed they have an agreement with him before his decision to sign for Genk.

Yet to make his first team bow for the league leaders he has however taken the Belgium second division by storm with six goals in 15 games for the B team of Genk called Jong Genk. One thing that is sure about him is that he is always a menace to defenders with his pace, power and skills.

The future of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro isn’t as clear as many thought with his contract set to expire in two months time, OGN reports.

Peseiro was appointed the coach of the Nigerian team in May 2022 on a one year deal with the option of another two years if he wins the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which was originally planned to be held in June this year.

However with the postponement of the tournament to January 2024, his contract will be up before the commencement of the tournament unless it is renewed and for now there is no talks about a renewal from the Nigeria Football Federation.

” It hasn’t been discussed largely due to the fact that we haven’t qualified for the AFCON yet. We have two qualifiers games against Guinea Bissau later this month. Maybe we can start talking about an extension after then but we don’t have any plans to extend his stay as Super Eagles coach at the moment”, he told OGN.

On if they will give him a pay rise in the event he sings a new deal, the board member who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that it will be very difficult instead they will look to negotiate his current pay of $70,000 a month to what they can afford monthly.

” A pay rise will be very difficult even if he signs a new deal. Left to me and the board if he agrees to a lesser pay then it will make it easy for us. Remember the minister who approved this wage for him might not be around the same position under the new president elect even if he keeps his place in the cabinet.

” We want something that we can afford and his current pay is well out of our budget. When that time comes we will all look at it and see the best way forward for all involved”, he stated.