Manager of Southampton Ralph Hasenhuttl has praised Nigeria international midfielder Joe Aribo for his brilliant solo goal in their final game which they lost 1-2 to Villareal.

Aribo signed from Rangers few weeks ago wasted no time in endearing himself to the Saint Mary faithfuls with a strong run from his half which ended in the box of Villareal before he finished with aplomb to draw his side level.

The goal as expected generated lot of excitement from fans of Southampton with many likening it to goals scored by PSG forward Lionel Messi in his prime.

Hasenhüttl praised Aribo’s wonder goal on his first St Mary’s start, as his thoughts now turn to next week’s season opener at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Aribo expected to play some part in the game.

“When he is running with the ball he is hard to stop. He was a little bit lucky also, but he always has these situations when the ball is under his feet and he finds good solutions,” he said of Saints’ new No 7.

Ajax of Amsterdam most expensive defender Calvin Bassey didn’t have the best of debut for the club as he was sent off 15 minutes after coming on in a 3-5 defeat to PSV Eindhoven.

The Nigerian was shown a straight card after a review by VAR made the referee to have a change of mind after initial giving him a yellow card for the challenge.

His sending off was roundly seen as the turning point in the Dutch Super Cup game as Ajax were at that time pushing to mount a comeback. The scoreline was 4-3 in favour of PSV before he was sent off.

Speaking after the game, coach of Ajax Alfred Schreuder said after the sending off of Bassey he knew things will be difficult for his side to mount a comeback. He went further to explain why the Nigerian was sent off and rightly so.

“We also defended poorly. We started very well and came in 1-0. Then we failed to score a second goal. And then we conceded three goals just like that. But we also did a lot of things well offensively. It was only after Calvin Bassey’s red card that I got the idea that it was going to be difficult. He wanted too much, I think. It was a red card that you can give a red card for”, he said at the post match conference.

Players of the Super Eagles of Nigeria have been involved in the current summer transfer window with as many as seven moving to new clubs.

One of the player who was largely tipped to make a move this season is Cyriel Dessers after his performances for Feyenoord where he smashed ten goals to finish as the top scorer in the Europa Conference League.

Back at his parent owners Genk, he is still not fully settled and want to try his luck elsewhere considering the fact the fact that he is 27 years old and this might be his last big chance to make a decent move.

Linked with a move to newly promoted Serie A side Cremonese, same team that just signed his fellow Nigerian David Okereke, Dessers admitted that although the club isn’t a big club but that they play in the Serie means he is open to the idea of joining them.

“Cremonense is not a big club? But Serie A is a big competition and I dream of that”, he said when asked about a potential move to the Serie A side. Feyenoord where he spent last season at loan are reportedly still in the running for his signature.

As the English Championship gets underway, the future of Nigeria international forward Emmanuel Dennis at Watford is still not certain per a report by The Athletic.

Dennis scored ten goals last season but it wasn’t enough to keep Watford in the English Premier League. Following their relegation he was heavily tipped to leave the club owing to his massive numbers.

However that hasn’t been the case as reported interest from West Ham, Everton and Newcastle United didn’t end up with a bid to Watford, who are open to letting him leave. They want a fee of £25m.

Per The Athletic, Nottingham Forest are the latest team to show an interest in the 24-year-old. With sources close to Dennis saying they were encouraged by meetings that took place with the Forest hierarchy.

The aim, if an offer comes to fruition, would be to partner Dennis with fellow Nigerian Taiwo Awoniyi, who signed from Union Berlin. However before any deal is sanctioned, Forest manager Steve Cooper would want to speak to the player first to carry out his own due diligence.

The dream of several footballers is to see their children step into their shoes when their wind up their career. That dream has come true for ex Nigeria U23 and one time Super Eagles invitee Greg Etafia.

A member of the Nigerian team to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The goalkepper who spent majority of his career playing in the Premier South Africa League (PSL) can now boast of his son following in his footsteps.

His son Kelvin Etafia who is predominantly a central defender has joined National First Division (NFD) side Cape Town Spurs. A remarkable rise for the young defender who cut his teeth playing for the youth team of Highlands Park in 2019. His father was a coach at the club while he was with the youth team.

He will now be introduced into professional football by starting off in the second division but at a very historic club. They use to be a franchise for Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.

In 2020, they ended their association with Dutch club AFC Ajax, with Cape Town Stars acquiring full control of the club, and they subsequently renamed to Cape Town Spurs.

Calvin Bassey has gotten the administrative all clear to play for his new team Ajax Amsterdam when they take on PSV Eindhoven later today in the Dutch Super Cup.

The left footed center back who joined the Dutch side from Rangers hasn’t played a game yet as his work permit application took time to be done, making him miss a crucial period of integration.

Before his application was granted, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were required to send documents proving that he is a full fledged Nigeria international as it is part of the process.

OwnGoalNigeria.com gathered that, the response from the NFF played a role in easing the process which was stalling and cost him game time in pre season. He is however tipped to play some part in today’s game.

22-year-old Bassey joined Ajax last week as a replacement for Lisandro Martinez, who moved to Manchester United. Ajax financial director Susan Lenderink parted ways with 23 million euros for Bassey and that amount could rise to 26.5 million euros through bonuses. It’s still a sizeable piece of business considering that the total fee they got for Martinez could rise to around 67 million euros.

The future of Nigeria international winger Moses Simon at Ligue 1 side Nantes is still unclear with the forward having just two more years to run on his deal.

After another fantastic season in Ligue 1, a host of clubs notably from the English Premier League made attempts to lure the Nigerian away from Nantes, but the 27 year old is keen on remaining in France due to family reasons.

Ligue 1 side Nice as well as Marseille have all indicated interest in acquiring the services of the winger with the former even failing with a bid of €10m three weeks ago. Nantes want at least €15m as his transfer fee.

Simon’s future will become clear after this weekend’s French Super Cup game against PSG which will take place in Tel Aviv. Simon and the rest of his Nantes teammates will arrive Israel later today.

We exclusively gathered that a meeting will be held immediately after the game between his representatives and the club in order to reach a compromise on his future. Simon is keen on staying in France but not necessarily at Nantes.

With rumours circulating about the future of Nigeria international forward Sadiq Umar at newly promoted La Liga side Almeria, coach of the team Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia popularly called Rubi has given his opinion on the forward.

Sadiq has finished as top scorer for the team in back to back seasons and last season his 18 goals fired them to promotion to the top league. Rubi is sure he will make same impact in the Spanish top division.

He said his dream is to persuade the player to shun overtures from teams like Villarreal, Getafe and Atalanta, although he admitted that yet leave the club due to issues bothering on the club needing money that will be generated from his sale.

“Our dream as a staff would be for Sadiq to continue with the team in the First Division because I think his performance could be better than in the Second Division, simply because of a space issue, with the possibility of running, he will do a lot of damage,” Rubi said as quoted by Diario de Almeria.

“I think he will be there and if in the end he is not, it is because the club understands that the economic part is good enough to allocate that money to bring a footballer in that position and one or another situation, or help leave a fantastic field.”

Sources close to Sadiq told OwnGoalNigeria.com that he will make a decision on his future in the next two weeks just before the start of the new season in Spain.

Head coach of Napoli Luciano Spalleti has voiced out his unhappiness over the attitude of Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen in his side’s 2-2 draw against Adana Demirspor in a pre season game.

Osimhen played the first half in yesterday’s game, which is coming three days after the forward was sent out of training by the coach following a heated disagreement with his teammate Zambo Anguissa.

After the game, Spalleti was asked about the Nigerian who was guilty of missing two good chances to put them clear against the Turkish side. He called on the forward to raise up to his status as one of the leaders of the team by showing a good attitude.

Last season the forward scored 14 Serie A goals and 4 in Europa League despite missing around three months of the season. The coach was however unimpressed with his commitment during yesterday’s game.

“For us he has to become a leader, he cannot go over in situations like this because training is a simulation of the match. If he then reacts like this in training, imagine in a match”, the coach laments.

The coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro will hand a call up to Crystal Palace new signing Malcolm Ebiowei if he maintains his spot in the first team of the team.

Already head coach of Palace Patrick Viera has already said the talented 18 year old will not go on loan or drop to the U23 team insisting that he will be with the first team. A sign of how well he impressed him during their recent pre season tour.

Signed from Derby County on a free after the expiration of his deal, he trained with the Nigeria U17 team of 2019 but wasn’t included in the final list of players for the tournament.

His rise since then has been phenomenal as he went from failing trials at West Ham after he was released by Arsenal to joining Rangers, where he wasn’t offered an extension after a year. He was signed by cash strapped Derby County and there he seized the chance to make an impression and earned the move to Crystal Palace.

” We are aware of him right from U-17 when his uncle brought him to us. He is the nephew of Finidi George, who is the assistant to Jose Peseiro. So it’s a no brainer if he does well, he will be in the sqaud. A spot in the first team squad is fine for now”, a source close to Peseiro told OwnGoalNigeria.com..