One of the agents who worked on Victor Osimhen’s record breaking move from Lille to Napoli has dragged the forward to Ikeja Court on account of his refusal to pay him his commission from the deal, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Osita Okolo we were made to understand is an in-law to the forward 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 contact with Osita insisting on getting his money in full.

All attempts to reach Osimhen to hear his side on the issue proved abortive and Osita refused to elaborate on the matter and only told our correspondent that he is in court over an issue with Osimhen.

” I can’t confirm anything to you on my issue with Osimhen but we are in court over an issue that has dragged on for a while. That’s all I can’t tell you”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles Jose Peseiro has described the 30,000 -capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo also known as the Nest of Champions as a world class stadium with modern facilities.

Coach Peseiro who was in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital as a guest for the NPFL Match Day 35 between Akwa United and Plateau United on Saturday, was guided on a tour of the stadium facility on Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports and Chairman of Akwa United Football Club, Elder Paul Bassey.

The Portuguese alongside his assistant, Acacio Santos inspected the natural grass in the main bowl, the two training pitches, dressing rooms, referees room, conference rooms, the stadium environment among others.

Speaking after the inspection tour, Peseiro said he was impressed with the facilities at the stadium, adding that despite being used weekly by Akwa United and Dakkada FC for their NPFL matches, the quality of the pitch as well as the facilities have been properly maintained.

“This is a good stadium, feels like Europe and the standard of facility is world class. I came here to watch the match and to check the stadium and I must say that the stadium is big and in a nice condition.”

Asked if he will recommend the stadium for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the coach said “I am happy that aside Abuja stadium we have another big stadium here, I am going round to inspect the stadiums we have in Nigeria and at the end I will give my advice and the NFF will take the decision, it is not up to me,” he added.

The Portuguese refuse to complain about the poor turf of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja prior to the Super Eagles 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone a few weeks ago and the Super Eagles will face the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau in their next game in the qualifiers in September.

By Bassey Ibiatisuho

Portuguese top division side Benfica are currently looking for a replacement for Darwin Nunez who recently moved to Liverpool for a fee or around €80m.

The Portuguese side have drawn up a shortlist of players who they see as possible alternative to the departed forward and among them is Nigerian striker Sadiq Umar of Almeria.

Sadiq powered Almeria to promotion to the La Liga by finishing as top scorer for the second consecutive season since he joined the club two years ago and that feat hasn’t gone unnoticed per reports in Spain.

Although Almeria are adamant that only the triggering of his buy out clause will make them negotiate his exit, Benfica are however hoping their hope relationship with the Spanish side will work in their favour.

Nunez was signed from Almeria two seasons ago and both teams struck up a very good relationship from the deal. Sadiq who was signed as Nunez’s replacement at Almeria might replace the Uruguayan at Benfica this summer.

Contacts have been made with the camp of the lanky forward but nothing concrete has happened. Benfica will reportedly be willing to pay €15m for the 24 year old who is presently on holiday in Kaduna state.

Nigeria international goalkepper Maduka Okoye has resumed pre season training with his new team Watford ahead of the start of the English Championship.

Relegated Watford signed the Nigerian from Sparta Rotterdam of the Netherlands last season but kept him there on loan for the entirety of last season. He is prime to be their first choice following the departure of  Fraser Forster to Tottenham Hotspur.

However he first has to earn the right by posting good performance in pre season with rumours circulating about Watford wanting to bring in at least an experienced shot stopper to aid their quest of a quick return to the English Premier League.

Okoye is aware of the desire of the team to secure a quick return back to the English Premier League and he says he hopes to play a part in helping the team play in the top division, which he said is his dream when he accepted to join the English side.

“I think in every player’s head is going back up to the Premier League, It’s important to have ambition”, he told Watford Observer.

“On a personal level, I just want to help fulfil that ambition for the other players and the club. The more playing time the better, but most of all I want to see myself grow as a person and a goalkeeper.”

The Nigeria U17 team arrived Abuja yesterday after conquering their zone in the qualifiers for the U17 Africa Cup of Nations. They won the WAFU B zone of the qualifiers with a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso.

They played one of the most exciting brand of football any youth team from Nigeria has played in a while blowing away all teams that came their way. They won all four of the games they played at the tournament.

In all four games, players from the Nigerian team were picked as man of the match with Michael Emmanuel winning three in a row before goalkepper Richard Odoh won it in the final match.

As expected players of the team have turned hot cake hence it wasn’t any surprise when agents waited at the airport for their arrival to begin the process of luring them to their agency.

At the Abuja International airport, agents were seen trying to gain access to the players who also had representatives of their various academies waiting for them at the airport. They were properly guarded also led away in a bus by officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Former Nigeria Professional Football League feared forward Sunday Adetunji is reportedly on the radar of two Turkish giants in Besiktas and Fenerbahçe, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

The 24 year old shot himself into the path of the duo with a brace for his Macedonian FC Shkupi side against Fenerbahçe in a pre season game during the course of last week. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Per reports in Turkey, both teams liked what they saw in the Nigerian who was instrumental to his team winning the Macedonia league with 20 goals in 28 games. He finished as top scorer in the league.

Valued at €2m, Adetunji is a well known forward in the NPFL where he turned out for Shooting Stars,Abia Warriors, Enyimba, Lobi Stars, Plateau United and Rivers United. He also had a short stint abroad with Czech Republic side 1.FK Pribam.

Head coach of Nottingham Forest Steve Copper has explained the reason behind their decision to sign Nigeria international forward Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin on a record transfer fee.

Awoniyi was officially announced as a player of the club earlier today following  the conclusion of his record breaking £17.3m move. He becomes the club’s first signing of the summer transfer window following their promotion to the English Premier League.

The fee that Forest paid for the Nigerian has dominated discussions with some pundits wondering if he is indeed worth that might owing to the fact that he only had one good season, which was last season.

Copper remained unfazed by the doubts explaining that they watched the Nigerian for a while before deciding to pay that much for the 24 year old, who has represented Nigeria at all levels from U17 to the senior national team.

“There’s been a lot of interest in Taiwo from other Premier League clubs, and other clubs across Europe, so we’re delighted that he’s chosen Nottingham Forest”, he told the official website of the club.

“Our recruitment and coaching teams have been monitoring his progress closely over the last few months. He’s a player who we really believe in and we look forward to him going on to fulfil his potential and become a top Premier League striker with Nottingham Forest”, he explained.

The Nigeria U17 team yesterday emerged champions of the U17 WAFU B Championship which took place in Ghana. They defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 in the final claim the title by winning all of their games.

OwnGoalNigeria.com senior editor Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman who was with the team from the first day of screening in Abuja till when they departed for the tournament takes a look at five not too known reasons why the team won the tournament with ease.

1. Set Piece – From the first day of screening coach Nduka Ugbade was keen on ensuring that the team makes good use of opportunity from set pieces. It paid off as the team scored 80% of their goals from set piece situations. That Emmanuel Michael proved to be a major weapon with three goals from free kicks wasn’t a fluke rather it was hard work from the training ground.

2. Attacking Full backs – Ugbade saw over twelve full backs during the period of screening. Team got decimated when three out of his first choice full backs failed the MRI test. The coach still insisted on full backs who can be a threat in the opposition half depsite the limited time to search for a replacement.

Yahaya Lawal and Emmanuel Michael were both not just solid in defence as full backs but also very potent in the other part of the pitch with as many as eight goals contributions between them.

3. Unity Among The Coaches – From the head coach to the least in the pecking order. All coaches sang one song from the start of screening to the final selection and even tactics. Their unity came handy when they needed to replace players who failed MRI test with few days to the submission of list of players for the tournament.

4. Highly Technical And Mobile Players – During camping in Abuja it was clear to all present that the Nigerian team will be one filled with energy and movements with or without the ball. Ugbade drilled mobility into the boys that even the ones who were seen as slow picked up the pace. It aided their technical ability as they appear to have a yard of fitness over all their opponents especially in latter stages of games.

5. Zero Interference Aided Honest Selection – The coaches can proudly say they were in charge of picking the final team for the tournament unlike past teams. There was zero interference from the men at the top of Nigerian football and it helped the coaches to stay honest in their selection of players for the tournament.

The Nigeria U17 team have been crowned champions of the WAFU B Championship after a hard fought 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in the final game of the tournament.

Abubakar Abdullahi hit a brace either side of the half for the Nigerian team who ended the tournament by winning all four of their games at the tournament.

Three times man of the match winner Emmanuel Michael turned provider for Abdullahi to head Nigeria in front in the 22nd minute from a sweeping counter attack.  That advantage was however eroded before the half time break.

Failure to properly clear a cross into the box by the Nigerian defence allowed Adulrahmane Quedrago the chance to draw Burkina Faso level with a strong header in the box just three minutes to half time.

Four minutes after the restart Emmanuel Michael was at the heat of things again, this time around his long range free kick was spilled by the Burkinabe goalkepper onto the path of Abdullahi, who stabbed home to  help Nigeria regain their lead.

Tried as they could, the Nduka Ugbade led lads held on to claim a memorable win by inflicting the first defeat on Burkina Faso at the tournament.

The Nigeria U17 team will later today take on their Burkina Faso counterpart in the final of the WAFU B U17 Championship which is the qualifiers for the Africa U17 Cup of Nations.

By virtue of making it to the final game of the tournament, both teams have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations but will still have all to play for later today when they clash.

The tournament isn’t on national or pay TV but Nigerians residing in Ghana can watch the game on Max TV. A local station in Ghana who have been streaming the tournament from the start.

Also they are not the surest link to see the game online as it’s on their official Facebook page and also website. It’s also on Elevensports.com and the official Facebook page of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The game is scheduled for 8pm Nigerian time.