Relegated English Premier League side Watford played their second pre season game ahead of their campaign in the English Championship next season.

The team stepped up their preparation by moving to Austria where they will play couple of games before returning back to England for final round of preparations.

They took on Greek side Panathinaikos earlier today in one of the games they will play in Austria and it had as many as four Nigerians playing for the London side.

It ended in a goalless draw with the quartet of Tom Dele Bashiru, Maduka Okoye, Joseph Hungbo and Samuel Kalu all getting a run out. The latter trio were all introduced as second half substitutes.

Dele-Bashiru who was a part of the 2019 Nigeria U20 team made a positive impression on the coaches and was largely crowned man of the match by fans of the team, who streamed the game live.

He lasted the entire duration of the game and showed he is back to the form he had before suffering a cruciate ligament injury which kept him out for over a year. He spent last season on loan to Reading as part of plans to help him build his fitness and also rediscover his fitness.

A strong showing when the season gets underway will no doubt put him in the frame for a first time call up to the senior national team of Nigeria under new coach Jose Peseiro.

An Ikeja High Court has ordered for the arrest and detainment of Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen for contempt, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Osimhen has several disobeyed the court orders for him to appear and state his part in the allegations against him brought forward by his in-law and ex agent Osita Okolo. The allegations bothered on commissions from his move to Napoli.

As first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com, Okolo was part of the team behind Osimhen’s move to Napoli for a fee of around €71.2m, but that amount is currently been disputed by an investigation into the deal by the Italian and French authorities.

We exclusively gathered that William D’Avilla who was the main act in brokering the deal was due a commission of €5m from which he will pay Osita €1.3m. D’Avilla paid Osita $450k and another €91k.

According to what we gathered Osimhen collected the $439k and €89k paid to Osita saying he wants to use it to settle other family members and will return the cash to his In-law when he is settled in Italy.

Osimhen didn’t return the cash as promised and in November, Osita went public with it in an interview where he said that the 23 year old should take care of his family members. That didn’t go down well with Osimhen who texted him to say he won’t have him as his agent anymore.

On the 4th of January precisely he paid Osita €20,000 from what he collected from him meaning he is now owing him around $439 and €69,000. The dispute has landed the duo in court with Osita insisting on getting his money in full.

The court issued the warrant for Osimhen’s arrest after he failed to turn up or send his representatives on the dates the case was fixed for hearing. He shunned the four times he has been asked to appear in the court even though he was in Nigeria at the time.

In Nigeria, individuals who are guilty of shunning court orders are most times punished with jail terms per what we gathered from people who are conversant with how the law works in Nigeria.

Aside his case with Okolo, his first agent Jean-Gerard Benoit Czajka has also sued him for €5m as part of what he is due from the move to Napoli considering he started the move.

Portuguese league champions FC Porto returned to training few days ago with the compliment of almost all of their players including Nigeria international left back Zaidu Sanusi.

The team will be looking to freshen up their squad in several areas with the departure of around three key players who were part of the title success last time out. Porto will also begin the process of identifying and signing players who will take over from some of their ageing squad members.

Portugal international Pepe who will turn 40 next year February is among the players they will be open to scouting for possible replacement for before the end of the current summer transfer window.

Little known Nigerian defender Michael Ologo who stands at an impressive height of almost 2 metres tall is high on their priority list after an impressive season in Turkey. Reports even suggest that talks have started already for the 19 year old.

He was the rock in the defence for Istanbulspor helping them to gain promotion to the top division. He played in 25 of their league games in the regular season and a further two during the promotion play off.

His quick adaptation to life in Turkey hasn’t gone unnoticed by Porto who were among the teams interested in him before his move to Turkey following a report from one of their scouts.

As English Premier League side Arsenal step up their preparation for the new season, the future of several players will also be decided by coach Mikel Arteta before the end of the summer transfer window.

In the goalkepping department, the Gunners have added Matt Turner who is expected to be the back up goalkepper to first choice Aaron Ramsdale with Bern Leno expected to leave soon.

Karl Hein has been tipped to be the third choice goalkepper, a role that Arthur Okonkwo had last season but now seemingly look set to leave on loan to gain more first team experience.

Okonkwo is still eligible for Nigeria and as per a source close to the 20 year old shot stopper he will be open to the idea of representing Nigeria once his next chapter of his club career becomes clear.

For now his focus is on his club future which is away from Arsenal, where he is highly rated but the hope is to put himself in the frame for a Super Eagles chance under Peseiro by doing well at his loan club.

An Ikeja High Court has ordered for the arrest and detainment of Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen for contempt, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Osimhen has several disobeyed the court orders for him to appear and state his part in the allegations against him brought forward by his in-law and ex agent Osita Okolo. The allegations bothered on commissions from his move to Napoli.

As first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com, Okolo was part of the team behind Osimhen’s move to Napoli for a fee of around €71.2m, but that amount is currently been disputed by an investigation into the deal by the Italian and French authorities.

We exclusively gathered that William D’Avilla who was the main act in brokering the deal was due a commission of €5m from which he will pay Osita €1.3m. D’Avilla paid Osita $450k and another €91k.

According to what we gathered Osimhen collected the $439k and €89k paid to Osita saying he wants to use it to settle other family members and will return the cash to his In-law when he is settled in Italy.

Osimhen didn’t return the cash as promised and in November, Osita went public with it in an interview where he said that the 23 year old should take care of his family members. That didn’t go down well with Osimhen who texted him to say he won’t have him as his agent anymore.

On the 4th of January precisely he paid Osita €20,000 from what he collected from him meaning he is now owing him around $439 and €69,000. The dispute has landed the duo in court with Osita insisting on getting his money in full.

The court issued the warrant for Osimhen’s arrest after he failed to turn up or send his representatives on the dates the case was fixed for hearing. He shunned the four times he has been asked to appear in the court even though he was in Nigeria at the time.

In Nigeria, individuals who are guilty of shunning court orders are most times punished with jail terms per what we gathered from people who are conversant with how the law works in Nigeria.

Aside his case with Okolo, his first agent Jean-Gerard Benoit Czajka has also sued him for €5m as part of what he is due from the move to Napoli considering he started the move.

Little known Nigerian teen prospect Depo Mebude showed why he is so highly rated at English Championship side Watford with a brilliant solo goal during the team’s training.

Watford are in Austria for pre season training and Mebude who spent last season on loan to AFC Wimbledon in the English League One, a level below where Watford will play next season is part of the sqaud.

The club posted a video of their session and the 20 year old showed quick feet to evade his markers during a drill before slotting effortlessly past Maduka Okoye. The exiled first choice goalkepper of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Mebude has represented Scotland at U17, U19 and U21 level but he did show his Nigerian affiliation when he posed with the other Nigerians at the club in a photo with the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick.

Okoye is teaming up with the team after spending last season on loan to Sparta Rotterdam, where he was signed last season. He hasn’t hit the expected heights so far with fans unimpressed about the goal he conceded in their 1-3 pre season loss against Cambridge United.

As players continue to switch clubs in the ongoing transfer window, it’s somehow surprising that only few Nigerian players have made the news lately over a move.

The transfer window still has two months to go but one Nigerian player who appears to have sorted his future is 23 year old defender Valentine Ozornwafor who has three caps for the senior national team of Nigeria.

According to OJB Sports, Valentine won’t be signed permanently by Belgium side Charleroi following the expiration of his loan deal as they didn’t take up the option of signing him permanently. He will return to Galatasaray.

His return to the club will see him leave almost immediately to French second division side Sochaux, who narrowly missed out on promotion to Ligue 1 at the end of season according to OJB Sports.

The move when concluded will be his third loan spell away from Galatasaray since he joined on a five year contract in 2019 from Nigeria Professional Football League side Enyimba.

As the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro settles down to his role and the process of returning the team back to where they rightfully belong, new players are expected to be part of the team.

Peseiro said upon arrival that he wants to focus on the players in the team but didn’t rule out calling up new players. With the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations now postponed till 2024, the coach now has time to try out new players in certain areas.

One name on his list of potential invitees is Saviour Godwin, a former Nigeria junior international who took the Portuguese second division by storm by leading Casa Pia to the top division for the first time in 83 years.

Godwin was voted Man of the match in 8 games last season, more than any other player with his 11 goals and five assists earning him more praises and eventually the best player of the league award.

He was asked if he thinks he stands a chance of joining the likes of Zaidu Sanusi and Chidozie Awaziem in the senior national team of Nigeria, and he said it’s about doing well now that he is going to play in the top division in Portugal.

“National teams always put their radar first in the top divisions. It would be a great privilege for me to play in the Premier League. In terms of visibility it will be good, because from there anything can happen. If I do well, the team can see me. If not, when I do well, because I know I’m going to do well”, Godwin told zerozero.pt.

In a bid to revive his once upon a time fledging career that saw him win the best goalkepper at the 2013 U17 World Cup, Dele Alampasu has joined Malta top division side Pieta Hotspurs on a one year deal.

The 25-year-old joins the Maltese Premier League club to activate his international career. He has had multiple call ups to the senior national team of Nigeria, the last of which came in 2020.

Alampasu, who has 8 caps for Nigeria at youth level will be hoping to revive his once promising career in Malta. He has been invited to the Super Eagles on a couple of occasions.

The one cap Super Eagles goalie came through Future Stars and Abuja Football College ranks and joined Estoril U19 in July 2015. He then cross carpet to Feirense one month later.

In 2016, he joined Cesarense on loan before returning to Feirense who sold him to Ventspils on 13th February 2020.