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.

Nigeria international winger Moses Simon was heavily linked with a move to a team in the English Premier League at the start of the summer transfer window owing to his strong performance for Nantes last season.

Simon was pivotal in helping the modest Ligue 1 side end their over 20 year wait for a trophy when they lifted the French Cup. Many felt that will be the end of Simon’s stay at the club he joined from Levante three seasons ago.

However he is yet to leave and even lasted the entire duration of their 0-0 draw against Angers as the Ligue 1 season officially got underway over the weekend. OwnGoalNigeria.com gathered that Simon turned down a move to England were several teams were interested in signing him.

” Simon could easily have joined Watford in January but he decided against it. That was before they got relegated. Fulham, Brighton and Leeds United were at a time in talks with his representatives. Nothing came out of it for various reasons. This summer he had interest from three teams in the English Premier League”, a source told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” It’s about his interest or lack of it. The interest from Leeds United, Newcastle United and Brighton didn’t materialize into anything concrete because of Simon’s unwillingness to move to the English Premier League.

” Nice came with a concrete offer for him after hearing from his representatives that he is indeed leaning towards staying in France. Another team in France is in talks with Nantes. It’s his decision and it’s for family reasons”, he concluded.

As part of their plans to strengthen their squad for the defence of their Serie A crown and also a return to the UEFA Champions League, AC Milan see the midfield as an area that requires attention.

First on the list of players marked out to solve the issue is Lille of France Renato Sanchez but he has decided to join fellow Ligue 1 side PSG. Leaving Milan to switch to other targets.

Little known Nigerian midfielder Raphael Onyedika of Danish side Midtjylland is seen by the hierarchy of the team as an option according to Gazzeta.it. A bid is reportedly set to be imminent.

Although there are no reports on talks between the parties involved, the 21 year old is said to be top of their priority list as back up options. He is worth around €5m per reports from the Danish media.

Last season he made 48 appearances in all competitions playing 27 times as a central midfielder, 17 times as a defensive midfielder and once played as a centre back. A versatility which could be part of why Milan have him high up on their list.

As the countdown to the start of the Italian Serie A begins, as many as six players of the senior national team of Nigeria are expected to represent teams in the division, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Ola Aina, Kingsley Michael, David Okereke, Isaac Success, Tyronne Ebuehi, Ademola Lookman are already with different Serie A teams with Cyriel Dessers few details away from also joining them in the Italian top division.

That number could even swell further with the emergence of Emmanuel Ekong at Empoli, who have been promoted to the first team. He is the son of former Nigeria senior international Prince Ikpe Ekong.

Ekong has been ever present for Empoli playing in virtually all of their pre season games ahead of the start of the new season in Italy. Already he has been handed a first team squad number.

At the club he will be teammate to Nigeria international Ebuehi who joined the team in the summer, if he progresses as expected he will no doubt be in the frame for a call up to the senior national team of Nigeria.

Born in Sweden, he represented them at U20 level last year but it is believed that his dream still remains playing for the senior national team of Nigeria like his father did during his playing days.

As many as four Nigerian players have made moves that set a new transfer record during the course of the ongoing summer transfer window, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

In a window where many haven’t been excited by moves made by Nigerian players, it’s pertinent to note that four of them have set new transfer records starting with Taiwo Awoniyi’s move to Nottingham Forest.

Awoniyi made it back to back record transfer when he moved to the newly promoted English Premier League side for a fee of €20.5m from Union Berlin of Germany. Last summer he also joined the German side for a record fee from Liverpool in the region of €8m.

Calvin Bassey was the next Nigerian to set a new transfer record when he moved to Dutch giants Ajax from Scottish side Rangers for an initial fee of €23m, which could rise to €26m. The fee is the highest sale ever made by the Scottish side. He also becomes the most expensive defender ever signed by the Dutch side. In their list of expensive signings he is second.

One which went under the radar is that of David Okereke, the one time Super Eagles invitee who was also a part of the last U23 team of Nigeria left Club Brugge for newly promoted Serie A side Cremonese. Last season he was on loan to relegated Serie A side Venezia.

His move to Cremonese was worth €10m and it makes him their most expensive signing ever. Same week that another Belgium side Union Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, abbreviated to Union SG or USG broke the bank for another Nigerian.

Victor Boniface joined the Belgium UEFA Champions League representative from Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in a deal worth €2m. Making him the most expensive signing in their history.

With the transfer window still very much open, move Nigerian players will be expected to switch clubs. It is left to be seen if it will be for record fee as the case was with the aforementioned quartet.

The decision not to register Nigeria international midfielder in his squad of 25 players for the season has been explained by coach of English Championship side Stoke City.

As first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com, the 26 year old wasn’t handed a squad number for the season after his return from a loan spell at Watford, where a nasty injury saw him play just nine games. The club didn’t take up the option of signing him permanently.

It was his second straight loan spell away from the club and it means he hasn’t played to the club in two and a half years. As a matter of fact since his first season when he was voted their player of the season.

Explaining his situation at the club, coach of the team Michael O’Neil said although he still has a contract at the club, he isn’t fit enough for the team and also has his mind fixed on a permanent move away from the club with one year left to run on his deal.

“Peter’s been away from the club for two and a half years. In that period he’s been on three different loans. He previously hasn’t returned in pre-season, this pre-season he has returned and he played some games for Nigeria at the end of last season. He had quite a bad injury last season with Watford so missed quite a portion of the season”, he said .

“He’s not fit enough to train with the squad yet and I think in his mind he’s still looking for a permanent exit from the club. It’s very difficult for us as a club to rewind two-and-a-half years but he’s still our player, he’s contracted to the club and we’re duty bound to look after him, which is what we’re doing”, he rounded up saying.