English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion held off a late challenge from rivals Newcastle United and Chelsea to complete the signing of Zadok Yohanna from Swedish side AIK , OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
The player arrived in London earlier today and will undergo a routine medical, with announcement said to be imminent later today.
He will sign a five year deal with the Seagulls, who will pay a transfer fee in the region of €30m including add ons.
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Galatasaray and Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen has reportedly been offered to Barcelona by “intermediaries” but the striker is not said to be in the club’s plans for the future.
Barcelona are eager to bring in a new No. 9 this summer to replace Robert Lewandowski and have made Atlético Madrid Julian Alvarez their top transfer target.
A new report from Diario Sport claims that Barcelona have been offered the chance to sign Osimhen “through third parties” in the last few hours, but the club do not see him as a priority this summer.
Barca remain focused on Alvarez and remain confident he can be lured away from Atletico this summer, despite the early frustration from Los Colchoneros.
As for Osimhen, there’s regularly transfer speculation about the striker, with Galatasaray set to demand around €150m for his signing.
Daniel Martins
Swedish side AIK have informed the camp of Nigerian winger Zadok Yohanna that he should pick one of either Newcastle United or Chelsea as his next destination, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
We exclusively gathered that both teams are willing to pay €30m plus five in additional payments for the 18 year old, much more than what Brighton who had earlier reached an agreement on personal terms for his signing.
Brighton’s offer of €15m plus five million in future payments was knocked off by the bid from Newcastle United, which has now been matched by Chelsea.
The ball is now in the box of the player’s camp to make a decision on where is best for him, and we were made to understand that personal terms are yet to be discussed with either clubs.
However Chelsea are expected to offer more in that regard, but sources close to the Ikon Allah academy graduate said money won’t be a factor when making his decision.
Career progression will come first and for now a move to Newcastle United seems the best option on paper, but they will still listen to Chelsea’s options regarding his career progression.
Daniel Martins
A total of 22 players are presently in the camp of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the high profile friendly game against Portugal on the 10th of June, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Fresh from the 2-2 draw against Poland yesterday, the team arrived Leira yesterday in batches, and two new players in Alex Iwobi and newly invited Christian Akpan joined the camp, while Rafiu Durosinmi was excused due to personal reasons.
Earlier the today, the number in camp swelled to 22 with the arrival of Samuel Chukwueze who missed the game against Poland due to his mother’s burial rites, which happened four days ago.
He is now expected to be involved in their first training session later today, with head coach Eric Chelle expected to run the rule ahead of the game, which he said is much more than a friendly game.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has fired back at critics of Maduka Okoye in the 2-2 draw against Poland, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria twice led in the game but conceded late in both halves to draw 2-2, and Okoye was fingered for the manner which he was beaten for the second goal which was a long range effort from almost the centre circle.
Okoye dived toward the direction of the ball but was beaten by the pace and power of the strike, but some others felt he should have done better considering the distance the ball travelled before getting to him.
Chelle as expected has leaped to the defence of the Udinese goalkeeper wondering if the critics actually watched the game or just that moment of brilliance.
” People who blame Okoye for the goal didn’t watch the game. You can see that he kept us in the game and the goal can beat any goalkeeper in the world. We need to be fair about these things. I am happy with his performance and that’s all that matters”, the coach said.
The decision of head coach of the senior national team of Eric Chelle to call up the duo of Christian Akpan and Abdullahi Bewene to the team in preparation for the games against Poland and Portugal respectively raised eyebrows.
Bewene who plays for Czech Republic side Banik Ostrava already made his debut against Poland and posted a very impressive performance, which proved correct the decision of Chelle to hand him a late invitation.
Genk defender Christian Akpan arrived the camp of the team yesterday, and will now go into the plans for the game against Portugal on the 10th of June.
Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal that the duo benefited from the withdrawal of some invited players particularly at right back ,where Bright Osayi-Samuel the sole option in the list withdrew, and also the fact that they won’t need to apply for a visa before travelling to either of the countries.
Chelle has a six man shortlist to pick from but settled for the duo, who are both 21 year old primarily because they have been active in the build up to the games, hence will be ready to play.
Akpan is coming of the back of his first game for the senior team of Genk last weekend, where he was voted as the man of the match. It’s the same for Bewene who was also active just a week ago.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
A record ten African teams will be at the world up in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America when they tournament begins later this month, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Flying the African flag will be Algeria, Cape Verde, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
Nigeria one of the power houses of African football won’t be at the tournament for the second consecutive edition, after failing to beat Congo DR in the playoff.
Looking ahead to the tournament, FC Porto star Zaidu Sanusi says it’s not normal for ten teams from Africa to be at the world cup without Nigeria included.
” I must say it’s not normal to have ten teams in Africa without Nigeria. It has happened and we have to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. We need to take our spot as the giants of Africa and make it count next time”, he said in an exclusive interview with OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Zaidu is looking forward to the friendly game against Portugal, after playing the entire second half of the 2-2 draw against Poland two days ago.
” I will be at home in a way and hopefully we get the result that will be good for our morale going forward”.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion thought a deal has been teacher for the signing of Zadok Yohanna from Swedish side AIK after an agreement on personal terms were struck with the player’s camp.
Their offer of €20m was deemed as sufficient enough to sign the 18 year old Nigerian, and they were working out the terms of the payment of the fee, including possible add ons and future sales.
However things took a drastic twist, when Newcastle United who have been in touch with his representatives presented a plan that dwarfed whatever proposal their Premier League rivals tabled, like we exclusively reported.
Newcastle United made an offer of an outright payment of €25m, five million more than what Brighton proposed and also agreed to pay €5m in easily achievable add ons.
The offer brought a halt to what looked like an imminent deal to Brighton, and for now Newcastle United are leading the chase despite a late offer from another English Premier League side in Chelsea.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has explained the logic behind his decision to call up young players to the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Chelle included a host of young players in his team for the summer friendly games and added two more in Christian Akpan of Genk and Abdullahi Bewene of Banik Ostrava for the games against Poland and Portugal respectively.
Bewene already made his debut against Poland, and Akpan who just newly arrived is also in contention to play some part against Portugal on the 10th of June.
While looking at the trend of calling new young players to the team, Chelle explained by saying it’s about bringing a new level of energy and mentality to the team.
*We analyse our game the last one year and we try to put some players who can make the team grow. We need to improve because for me and for everybody it is one detail, which is to be the best team to win a trophy. We have to improve”, he told the team’s media channel.
“We analyse and we have to bring some young players who can bring a new mentality, something new. It’s not a question of mentality because the group has the mentality to win but we need to put something fresh.
“Some players will come with a lot of energy. They will bring for sure 100 percent. They want to win, they want to improve and the national team can do this for them”, he concluded.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
Ahead of the Super Eagles friendly game against Portugal in Lisbon the team has undergone a minor shake up with the addition of two new players, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria have had a busy summer starting off with the Unity Cup where they defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in the semi final, before securing a 3-0 win over Jamaica in the final.
Yesterday they were forced to a 2-2 draw by Poland , and they head out to Lisbon today for a friendly date against world cup bound Portugal on the 10th of June.
Ahead of the game, Pisa of Italy striker Rafiu Durosinmi who has been with the team from the Unity Cup was excused to leave the camp due to personal reasons.
Alex Iwobi is back in the team after missing the game against Poland due to a red card in the last game. Like we earlier reported Genk defender Christian Akpan is already in Lisbon with the team.
Meanwhile Samuel Chukwueze who only recently concluded the burial rites of his mother is expected to join his teammates on Friday.
