As Jose Peseiro get set to name his first squad for the senior national team of Nigeria, the coach has been taking a look at several players who can be a part of the team.

Super Eagles will likely play two friendly games in September with talks already advanced with Cameroon and Portugal. Both games will accord Peseiro the chance to try out new players.

The coach has Crystal Palace winger Malcolm Ebiowei as one of the players he is keen on giving a chance with the senior national team of Nigeria owing to what he has seen so far of the 18 year old.

A close source to the coach told OwnGoalNigeria.com that his uncle Finidi George, who doubles as the assistant coach of Peseiro has already sounded out the player who is eager to play for Nigeria, despite the disappointment he suffered in the U17 camp of Nigeria in 2019.

We gathered he told Finidi that his favourite position is playing behind the main striker, more like the number ten role and he played that role and excelled for the Crystal Palace U23 against Brighton and Hove Albion in a recent Premier League 2 game.

He scored a sublime goal to follow up his exciting perfomance as a substitute for the main team in their opening English Premier League game which they lost 2-0 to Arsenal.

The transfer window has reached the point where more moves are expected to be made following the conclusion of pre-season games by most teams ahead of the start of the new season.

Nigerian players are not left out with as many as nine players of the senior national team making moves to reposition their career to keep or force their way back into the national team setup.

Among the players who will be hoping for a chance under new coach Jose Peseiro is Bologna midfielder Kingsley Michael. He missed the majority of last season due to a ligament injury.

The search for game time to enable him regain match fitness has made him to accept a loan move to Austrian side SV Ried. He will spend the entire season there as he works his way back to full fitness.

Michael has already arrived Austria and will join the rest of his teammates in training ahead of a possible debut. He has one cap for the senior national team of Nigeria under erstwhile coach Gernot Rohr.

Coach of English Premier League side Leicester City Brendan Rodgers watch his side lost a two goal lead to draw 2-2 against Brentford in their opening game of the English Premier League.

Rodgers had to play a different formation from the one he used all through pre season due to the absence of Harvey Barnes who was out injured. The coach didn’t have an alternative to call up.

Last season in the absence of Barnes, the coach was able to call on Nigeria international winger Ademola Lookman who was on loan from RB Leipzig. They failed to make the deal permanent with Lookman now a player to Serie A side Atalanta.

The coach expressed his regret over their inability to sign the Nigerian saying with what he did last season he could have been the like for like replacement for Barnes.

“At this moment in time, I would say no. That was the frustration for us, that with Barnesy out, we didn’t have a direct replacement. “I would have loved to have signed Ademola who was great here last season and got over 10 goals and assists but we weren’t able to do that. Unfortunately that means we then have to look at the squad and the team and try to adapt, and then put them out to be as best organised as they can be”, he said.

As new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro settles down to work,he will be required to do a check on several players who have fallen out of favour with previous coaches.

Peseiro was appointed as coach on the back of Austine Eguavoen failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup following his interim appointment as replacement for sacked coach Gernot Rohr.

One player who was brought into the team by Rohr but fell out of favour with Eguavoen is Kevin Akpoguma. The ex German youth international made the last of his four caps for Nigeria away to Sierra Leone two years ago in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

At club level where he was the most active Nigerian defender, he now faces another uphill task with new coach André Breitenreiter moving him to a new role as right full back with Ozan Kabak preferred ahead of him in central defence.

Despite the injury to first choice central defender Benjamin Hübner, who is the captain of the team, Breitenreiter said he sees Akpoguma more as a right back who will play the role of deputy to Pavel Kaderabek like he did severally last season.

“Akpoguma is more of an alternative on the right for Pavel [Kadeřábek, d. Red.] seen,” said Breitenreiter at the press conference on Friday. Akpoguma played partly on the right rail last season when Kadeřábek was unable to play. The same role could also come to Akpoguma this season. At least that’s what it looks like at the moment”, he concluded.

Former coach of the Nigeria U20 team Paul Aigbogun has been appointed as the new coach of Danish side Jammerbugt FC, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The club reached an agreement with the present assistant technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) few days ago and he has already resumed at his new place of work.

Jammerbugt FC finished 12th last season and were relegated to the third division. Aigbogun’s task is to help the team gain promotion back to the second division. He will work with as many as eight Nigerian players at the club.

Ahmad Gero, Promise Damala, Shola Collins, Victor Ochay, Solomon Ogberahwe, Abdullahi Garba, Muhammad Ibrahim and Nasiru Jibril popularly called Baggio are the Nigerian with the Danish second division side.

It is the third time, UEFA licensed Aigbogun will be handling a team abroad as he has previously coached in South Africa and in England with non league side Chester. He was also part of the interim technical crew of the senior national team of Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations.

The future of several Nigerian players is still undecided despite the start of some leagues and also a week to the start of the rest top level leagues in Europe, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

While some players of the Super Eagles have already secured their future, a couple of others will likely leave or sort their future at their present team before the close of the ongoing summer transfer window.

One player who was widely tipped to leave his relegated side was Emmanuel Dennis of Watford. He scored ten goals but it was insufficient to keep his newly promoted side in the English Premier League as they were relegated.

Dennis was expected to be chased after by several teams but with around three weeks to the end of the transfer window, he is still at Watford and has even resumed playing games for them following the resumption of the English Championship.

West Ham were initially said to be ahead of the trio of Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Everton but they have since signed Maxwell Cornet from Burnley and Antonio Scammaca from Italian side Sassuolo.

Their decision is said to be partially down to the player’s questionable character rather than the price tag of £25m slammed on him by Watford. TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook suggested that Dennis’ ‘character’ may be a deterrent for Hammers boss David Moyes.

Crook told Give Me Sport:

“Now they’ve got Scamacca, I wonder if they’ve done some background checks on him because, from what I’m told, maybe he’s not necessarily the type of character that David Moyes wants to bring into the dressing room.”

The head coach of the B team of the senior national team of Nigeria Salisu Yusuf has picked players from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) ahead of their CHAN qualifiers against Ghana.

In a list made available to OwnGoalNigeria.com, four goalkeepers were picked including the U20 shot stopper Nathaniel Nwosu of Water FC. He caught the eyes for the Flying Eagles at the U20 WAFU Championship where they emerged as champions.

Below is the list.

Goalkeepers: Victor Sochima (Rivers United); Adeyinka Adewale (Akwa United); Ojo Olorunleke (Enyimba FC); Nathaniel Nwosu (Flying Eagles)

Defenders: Tope Olusesi (Rangers Int’l); Kazie Enyinnaya (Rivers United); Sani Faisal (Katsina United); Samson Gbadebo (Akwa United); Ebube Duru (Rivers United); Christopher Nwaeze (Akwa United); Isa Ali (Remo Stars); Tosin Adegbite (Enyimba FC); Temple Emekayi (Rivers United); Andrew Ikefe (Plateau United)

Midfielders: Babatunde Bello (Akwa United); Philip Ozor (Enyimba FC); Maurice Chukwu (Rivers United); Hafeez Nosiru (Kwara United); Zulkifilu Mohammed (Plateau United); Chiamaka Madu (Rivers United); Jide Fatokun (Kwara United); Kenechukwu Agu (Rangers Int’l); Joseph Onoja (Rivers United); Haggai Katoh (Plateau United); Uche Onwuasonaya (Rivers United)

Forwards: Abdulazeez Yusuf (Gombe United); Sadiq Abubakar (Enyimba FC); Chidiebere Nwobodo (Rangers Int’l); Promise Amadi (Akwa United); Chijioke Akuneto (Rivers United); Valentine Odoh (Abia Warriors); Andy Okpe (Remo Stars); Adams Yakubu (Akwa United); Godspower Aniefiok (Kano Pillars); Ossy Martins (Rangers Int’l)

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen will wear the captain armband at Italian Serie A side Napoli when the new season gets underway by coach Luciano Spalleti, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Club captain Lorenzo Insigne left the team for Major League Soccer side Toronto FC, Dries Mertens who is suppose to be his natural successor also left the term following the expiration of his deal. He is set to join Turkish side Galatasaray.

Kalidou Koulibaly who is also among the senior players in the team left for English Premier League side Chelsea creating a huge vacancy in the leadership of the team as the new season gets close.

Coach Luciano Spalleti picked Italian fullback Giovanni Di Lorenzo as the new first captain of the team and after the friendly game against Espanyol, he confirmed Osimhen as one of the assistants to the Italian.

” It’s the players who have to decide who leads them. Osimhen is one who can play the role and I have pointed it to him”, the coach said while explaining the leaders of the team ahead of the start of the new season.

The future of Nigeria international forward Sadiq Umar is away from newly promoted La Liga side Almeria according to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the team Mohamed El Assy.

Sadiq has been linked with a move away from the team after finishing as top scorer for the team for the second consecutive season. His goals helped them to gain promotion to the Spanish top division.

Last week reports emerged that a fee has been agreed with a team outside of Spain for his signing, that team was speculated as German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. Reports also Getafe are keen on his services.

Villarreal have been monitoring his situation at Almeria, same as Sevilla who are his preference but need to clear up spaces on their wage bill in order to be able to accommodate the Nigerian on their books.

Sadiq missed Almeria’s final preseason friendly against Al-Hilal on Sunday, which took place in Burton. Speaking to Mundo Deportivo before the match, CEO Mohamed El Assy confirmed a sale was on the horizon.

“Umar Sadiq has not travelled to England to avoid any type of injury that could stop a transfer that is close at this time. He will be sold for a little less than €30m. We have 12-13 other players that have received offers, they are players who have a prestige in the market and you hope that they have a great future.”

Teams in Spain have been actively recruiting players to bolster their squad ahead of the start of the Spanish La Liga next weekend. As many as 90 players have been signed by teams in the Spanish top division.

In terms of the amount spend on an individual player Real Madrid currently lead with the sum paid for Aurelio Tchouameni while Barcelona are second by spending big on three players namely Rapinha, Robert Lewandoski and Jules Kounde.

Nigeria international striker Sadiq Umar will likely join the list if his move to Getafe for a fee in the region of €25m goes through following positive talks. The Nigerian will definitely leave Almeria this season.

Sadiq is still discussing personal terms with a team from abroad, who are also discussing structure of the payment of €25m Almeria wants. That team is according to some sources Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.

The Nigerian has been top scorer for Almeria for two straight seasons with his goals helping them to gain promotion to the La Liga. His camp have not been responding to messages on his future and even the player has stayed silent.