The father of Crystal Palace midfield sensation Michael Olise wants his son to pick Nigeria over Algeria as both teams intensify push to get the 20 year old ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Olise was called up to the senior national team of Nigeria by former coach Gernot Rohr, but he didn’t honour the call up and later reports surfaced that he is keen on representing Algeria and not Nigeria.

With his international future still in the air, Olise who is still eligible for France where he was a youth international and also England where he was given birth to has been told by his Nigerian father to pick Nigeria.

Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively report that it was Olise’s father Vincent who was behind the call up to the Nigerian team, as he assured Rohr that his son will play for Nigeria but it wasn’t to be as his agent pull the plug on the move insisting he leaves his options open for now.

Vincent is still keen on his son picking Nigeria but the boy’s mother who hails from Algeria and his girlfriend all want him to represent Algeria while his agent is more at home with his client playing for either France or England.

Coach of Spanish second division side Fuenlabrada has praised Nigeria international striker Sadiq Umar following his man of the match performance which helped Almeria to a 3-1 win.

Sergio Pellicer watched on as his team fail to keep the Nigerian at bay with the 25 year old scoring and also bagging an assist in the course of the heavy win which keeps Almeria’s promotion hopes alive.

Sadiq has now scored five goals in four consecutive games taking his tally for the season to 13 goals in 24 games aside nine assists as well. He is well on course to better his last season record of 20 goals in 38 games.

Speaking on the forward, Pellicer said it’s clear that the forward has outgrown the level of the Spanish second division suggesting to Almeria to cash in on the forward now.

“Sadiq has shown for two straight seasons what he can do. I guess he deserve a top division team and Almeria will do well to get the best deal. They are also on course for promotion”, the coach was overheard telling a member of the Almeria coaching staff.

La Liga side Valencia are reportedly the front runners for his signing but they face stiff competition from fellow top division side Real Betis. Almeria want around €30 million as transfer fee.

The shock transfer of Samuel Kalu to Watford from Ligue 1 side Bordeaux has been hailed by the club as one of their smartest piece of business in a long while.

Kalu has struggled to match expectations since his big money move from Belgium side Gent three seasons ago with the club twice failing in their bid to move him on during previous transfer windows.

Deemed surplus to requirements and with his contract set to run out in two years time, the club were faced with the possibility of losing the 24 year old on a free transfer as they had no offer from any team willing to buy the winger.

Watford came in with a bid that the club wasted no time in accepting due to what a source as the club said is down to not knowing what to do with the Nigerian, who was bought with a huge amount and was expected to generate more when sold.

They however ended up selling him for £3m in a deal that has several add ons which will likely see the fee rise to £4m. So far Kalu is yet to made his competitive debut for the struggling English Premier League side due to an ankle injury.

New appointed technical adviser of the senior national team of Ghana Chris’Hughton says his brief is to ensure that he helps the Black Stars pip Nigeria to the World Cup ticket in March.

Ghana will host Nigeria in Cape Coast on the 24th of March before travelling to Nigeria for the second leg of the World Cup playoff tie in Abuja three days later. The tie has been nicknamed the jollof derby.

Hughton who was announced by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) as part of a newly constituted technical crew following the sacking of Milovan Rajevac says he knows and understands the weight of the task before him and the new crew.

He said his Ghanaian roots gives him more impetus to ensure that the job of picking the world cup ticket ahead of Nigeria is a reality after both games in Cape Town and Abuja respectively.

“Yes, and I have a lot of energy. I am going to be involved with Ghana”, the ex Brighton coach said.

“My father hailed from Ghana and Ghana have two World Cup play-off games against Nigeria. I am involved in that.

“There is a coach but I have the title of technical advisor and my role will be to support the coach and the staff for these two games.But I am very much looking to get back and have a lot to offer.”

Spanish second division side Huesca has fired back at the Association of Spanish Soccer Players over their criticism on the way the club is treating Kelechi Nwakali.

Nwakali returned ten days late following Nigeria’s elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations and he was subsequently fined by the club who viewed the act as a breach of laid down procedure for discipline.

The Nigerian claimed sickness was responsible for his late arrival. A claim backed by the players union who went as far as saying that Huesca are treating the Nigerian badly due to his refusal to renew his deal which expires in the summer and also his unwillingness to leave during the January transfer window.

Responding to the allegations Spainish journalist Pablo Barrantes told Cope Huesca  that the club have since replied the players union insisting that they did nothing wrong with their handling of the issue with the Nigerian.

According to Barrantes, the club insist that they acted correctly and that the act of Nwakali is a serious case of indiscipline. They cited the fact that Nwakali’s international teammates who were also at the tournament with Nigeria arrived immediately after the country’s exit to help their club.

Nwakali on the other hand went missing and didn’t contact the club till the 31st of January when he communicated his desire to leave the club. A move which failed to materialize as he also turned down a loan move to fellow second division side Burgos despite both clubs agreeing terms on a loan deal.

His explanation that he was sick wasn’t accepted by the club and they are going ahead with plans to terminate his contract without compensation. The case is been handled by the legal service of the club although it could react the Spanish social court in charge of labor situations.

The senior national team of Nigeria are having a mini crisis in defence as key senior members of the backline are not getting regular run of games ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers playoff against Ghana.

Nigeria will take on Ghana in a two legged playoff on the 24th in Ghana and three days later in Nigeria to determine the country that will make it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Ahead of the game, OwnGoalNigeria.com gathered that interim technical adviser of the Nigerian team Austine Eguavoen isn’t in anyway happy with the lack of playing time his defenders are currently facing at their clubsides.

His fear is that it could see them lose sharpness before the crunch tie, which is also instrumental to the stay of the coach at the helm of the senior national team of Nigeria. For now only Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi are enjoying regular run of games since after the Africa Cup of Nations.

At Scottish side Rangers, Leon Balogun has been battling with injuries and fitness and it has limited his game time to just one full senior game since January. Ironically Calvin Bassey a one time Super Eagles invitee has been deputising brilliantly in his absence.

Worst of all is Alanyaspor defender Chidozie Awaziem who has only played one out of five for his club since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he was a bit part player for the Nigerian team.

At Watford William Troost Ekong, the vice captain of the Nigerian team has been frozen out by new coach Roy Hodgson. He hasn’t played a single minute since the coach took over. Meaning he is without match practice since the exit of Nigeria from the AFCON.

Ola Aina is also not faring any better at Italian Serie A side Torino with no game since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations. Jamilu Collins at second division German side Paderborn has only played once and that came over the weekend against Erzgebirge Aue in a 3-3 draw.

Tyrone Ebuehi is currently out injured but shouldn’t be much of a problem as Shehu Abdullahi has returned back to full fitness playing in all of the last three games for Omonia Nicosia. Zaidu Sanusi has also been ever present for FC Porto this season.

It appears rising Nigerian goalkepper Adeleye Adebayo has lost his spot as the first choice goalkepper of Israel top division side Hapoel Jerusalem.

The former Nigeria U17 shot stopper and U20 trainee has not been in goal for consecutive games for the first time since he became first choice of the team two years ago.

After keeping goal in 22 consecutive games this season, he has been relegated to the bench after the 0-2 defeat against Maccabi Netanya on the 12th of February. He wore the captain armband for three consecutive games before that game.

However since then he has played second fiddle to Yonathan who has impressed by keeping back to back clean sheets against Ashdod and Kiryat Shmona respectively. He now half as many clean sheets as Adeleye in just two games.

21 year old Adeleye has been on the radar of the senior national team of Nigeria for w while with many suggesting that he could rival Maduka Okoye, as he is the only Nigerian goalkepper enjoying a regular run of games in Europe.

Victor Osimhen will be allowed to leave Italian Serie A side Napoli next summer during the transfer window per reports by Rai journalist Ciro Venerato.

Speaking to Domenica Sportiva, he said the club have decided to cut their losses on the Nigerian as he is yet to fully settle in the country and have already set a price tag for his sale.

He said president of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentius sees reasons in letting the forward leave but for a fee in the region of a €100m and have already initiated contact with Sassuolo over their forward Gianluca Scamacca.

“Victor Osimhen can leave Napoli at the end of the season. Manchester United are part of the teams keen on him. Their manager Ralph Ragnick sees him as a perfect replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo”, he said.

“De Laurentius has set a price tag of around €100m after evaluating his options. At the same time Napoli have asked for information with Sassuolo for Scamacca. Spalleti considers him the perfect replacement for Osimhen if he leaves”, he explained.

Meanwhile fellow Italian journalist Dario Di Gennaro has expressed his surprise over the behaviour of the referee in the 2-1 win Napoli had over Lazio yesterday in the Serie A, he claimed they didn’t bother to stop the game when Osimhen was racially insulted by Lazio fans.

“But racist insult for Osimhen without anyone from the referee saying anything”, he posted on his official Twitter handle @dariogennaro.