French Ligue 1 side Marseille have completed the signing of little known Nigerian midfielder Kabiru Idress, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

The 19 year old was signed after impressing in a trial that lasted around two weeks. Prior to that time he was scouted in Abuja during a tournament for scouts organised by Nigerian football agent Babawo Mohammed.

He is defensive midfielder who represented Sauki Football Academy of Jos during the scouting tournament. He is adept at winning possession and also pose a decent ball distribution ability.

In a chat with OwnGoalNigeria.com, Babawo said his signing is one of the over 30 deals he has done so far this summer with all players picked from the scouting tournament in Abuja.

” Idress is one among the over 30 deals I have done so far in this window. The idea is to see him grow through the youth team of Marseille to the main team. He recently got his permanent and will train with the main team periodically”, he said.

The sporting director of Danish top division side Randers has confirmed that the club is open to letting ex Manchester United teen prospect Tosin Kehinde leave the club this summer.

Kehinde was sensational for the Danish side last season posting impressive performance not just in the league but also in Europe where they played in the Europa Conference League after falling out from the Europa League in the qualifiers stage.

24 year old Kehinde who joined the team in 2020 is also keen on leaving according to Søren Pedersen , who also confirmed that they are several clubs interest in the one time Nigeria U23 invitee.

With one year left on his deal, it’s clear why the Danish side are keen on cashing in on him despite his status as one of their most important player last season.

“We are working on that we can get him sent off in this window, and he is also interested in moving on, so it is clearly something that we are looking at.

There has been ongoing interest in him, but there is nothing concrete on my table, but there are clubs that follow him and who are interested in him. So I think he will be sold this summer, Søren Pedersen confirms to bold.dk.

Nantes and Nigeria international winger Moses Simon has decided against a move to the English Premier League according to several reports in the French media monitored by OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Simon was heavily linked with a move to either of Leeds United, Newcastle United or Brighton and Hove Albion but the 26 year old who is presently on holiday has agreed terms with Ligue 1 side OGC Nice.

According to French media outlet RMC, the Nigerian picked the French side as the next phase of his career after talks with two English teams in Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion.

They claim Leeds United still holds a strong interest in him but will make their move after the sale of Rapinha who is close to joining Chelsea according to several reports in England.

No reason was given on why Simon picked the French side ahead of a move to English Premier League and all calls to his representative went unanswered. Even his aide didn’t respond to inquiries from this portal on the news.

New coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro is unhappy with the career trajectory of Nigeria international defender Chidozie Awaziem whom he gave his professional debut at Portuguese giants FC Porto.

Peseiro was the coach of the main team of Porto when Awaziem made the step up to the main team from the B team, a year after his move to Portugal from non league Nigerian side Gee-Lec Football Academy.

He made ten appearances for Porto in 2016 with Peseiro at the head as coach. Following the departure of Peseiro he didn’t get to play any league game again enduring four different loan spells before finally joining Boavista on a permanent deal last summer.

He was immediately loaned out to Turkish side Alanyaspor with an option of signing him permanently. The Turkish side announced they won’t be taking up the option leaving the 25 year old with no choice but to return to Boavista.

Peseiro according to sources is said to be disappointed with his career rise as he was hoping to build his team around him. His form was so disappointing that he didn’t make the matchday squad for both of the AFCON 2023 qualifiers win.

He reportedly told some of his assistants and backroom staff that Awaziem was once seen as the next big thing from the Porto academy but he seems to have lost his way which has left him disappointed. We gathered he had a word with him on sorting out his club form else he won’t be part of the team the September round of international games.

President of French Ligue 1 side Lorient has played down reports linking Terem Moffi with a summer move to Monaco insisting that it will take a crazy amount of money to sign the striker.

Moffi has been linked with a move to Monaco in the past few weeks in the French press with reports saying the Nigerian is keen on a move to a team that is more attack conscious in order to boost his numbers in front of goal.

His desire to move is also borne out of the fact that he snubbed a move away from the club last summer to spend one more year to further establish himself but he failed to match same heights like the previous season.

Last season the 23 year old scored 8 goals, six less than his tally the previous season which was his debut season following his move from Belgium side signed Kortrijk. Despite the obvious drop in his goal count he is still seen as a potent strikers by top teams.

Asked about the future of the Nigerian and his teammate Enzo Le Fee at the club, president Loic Fery gave the circumstance under which both highly rated players will be sold ” The idea of both of them leaving exit if an offer we can’t resist is presented then they may be discussion but as of today that is not the case”, he told Sports_Ouest.

As the dust begin to settle on Nigeria U17 team winning the WAFU B Championship, clubs have started the process of contacting owners of the players in view of tying them down to deals, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Scouts from various teams were in Ghana during the tournament as it coincides with when they came for a scouting event which had lot of Nigerian teams in attendance. The scouts we gathered came from Spain, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.

Nigeria emerged as the champions of the tournament beating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the final match of the tournament. Both teams secured their spots in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations which will hold in Algeria.

As expected most of the scouts picked interest in the Nigerian players who were by far the best in the tournament by virtue of the fact that they won the man of the match award in all of their games.

We gathered FC Porto are the first team to sound out three players from the team officially as a representative of the Portuguese side was in Nigeria to hold talks with the clubs of the trio.

It’s still early days yet but talks have progressed nicely so far and we gathered the idea is to have first refusal on the players. Our source refused to reveal the names of the three players who are in talks with the Portuguese giants.

Nigeria international winger Moses Simon appears not to be losing sleep over where his future lies despite multiple reports linking him with a move away from French Ligue 1 side Nantes.

Simon is presently on holiday with his family at an unknown destination per pictures on his various handles on social media platforms. He is taking a break in the heat of reports about his representative opening talks with several teams over his signing.

As first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com, the soon to be 27 year old has given his representative go ahead to hold talks with English side Brighton and Hove Albion preferring them over a move to Newcastle United.

However, sources close to the player say they have been unable to reach him to know how well talks are progressing with all of his lines not currently available. He is due back from holiday in two weeks time.

It’s still unclear if he will return back to Nantes for pre season training as there are reports that French side Nice are keen on wrapping up a deal for him in the next few days. Marseille are also in the running to have him in their sqaud next season.

Watford have mutually agreed to terminate the contract of goalkeeper Rob Elliot following the club’s relegation to the Championship, according to the Athletic.

The 36-year-old had one year remaining on his deal but it’s been amicably agreed between club and player to allow him to seek other opportunities.

It means Watford are now in the market for another goalkeeper. As explained here new signing Maduka Okoye is expected to be No 1 which leaves Daniel Bachmann’s future uncertain.

Therefore Watford may be in the market for either a keeper to challenge Okoye if Bachmann leaves or an experienced No 3 as support.

Pontus Dahlberg, who is also at the club, is expected to sign another loan deal for next season.

Source: The Athletic.

A former coach of the Nigeria U17 team has explained why Crystal Palace New signing Malcolm Ebiowei was dropped from the Nigeria U17 camp in 2019.

OwnGoalNigeria.com last week reported how the 18 year old was humiliated in the camp of the Nigerian team ahead of the U17 World Cup as told by his uncle who brought him to the camp.

Ebiowei who was then at Arsenal was after a while deemed not good enough but that was after he was subjected to several unfair treatments like doubts over if he is indeed an Arsenal player. He was also asked to cut his hair with one of the coaches saying he is too lazy.

From then to now he has grown into a player in the English top division largely due to his impressive display for Derby County last season in the English Championship. He signed a five year deal with Crystal Palace on a free transfer from Derby County.

Explaining their own side of the story, a coach who was a part of the team back then explained that like several other players who came from abroad, he failed to adjust to the culture, weather and also physical demands.

” Malcolm like several others who came from abroad needed time to settle down to be able to battle the culture shock, physical demands and also the weather. He was off the pace and that is supposed to be understandable. We could see the talent in him but we didn’t have time as the World Cup was close”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

” He played in like three test games and didn’t do badly but they were others who did really well. It wasn’t a case of unfair treatment as said by his uncle. It’s more like a learning curve which has made him a better player now. I am particularly excited for him”, he concluded.

Relegated English Premier League side Watford are losing sleep over their plan to let Nigeria international striker Emmanuel Dennis leave the club this summer.

Following their failure to maintain their Premier League status, they have resigned to losing Dennis who finished as their top scorer last season with 11 goals in what was his debut season in the league.

Dennis is also keen on leaving and also staying in the English Premier League but there have been no serious bid for his service so far as teams get set for pre season training. The situation is said to be unsettling Watford.

Watford plan to start preparation for the season with the future of their key players settled, and they want to use the proceed from the sale of players particularly Dennis and Ismaila Saar to strengthen their squad in certain areas.

Valued at £20m, only West Ham have been credited with an interest in the 24 year old but they are yet to firm it up with an official offer. A situation that hasn’t gone down well with the Championship side.