Newly appointed head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Emmanuel Amuneke says there will be no conflict of interest in his role as assistant to the technical adviser of the team Austine Eguavoen.

Amuneke’s appointment was announced last week by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with Salisu Yusuf dropping to the role of second assistant while Joseph Yobo keeps his role but this time around as third assistant.

The decision to draft Amuneke led to talks about a possible conflict of interest as he is one who have handled the head coach role of a senior national team before when he guided Tanzania to the Africa Cup of Nations.

He also said in an interview in December that he doesn’t see himself working as an assistant to any coach in the Super Eagles setup when he was asked about taking up a role as assistant to then coach Gernot Rohr.

It led to talks on if his appointment won’t bring about a conflict of interest with Eguavoen who is the head of the crew but he was quick to point out that it won’t be an issue at all.

“Why will there be conflict of interest? We are focusing on the same goal and that’s to take Nigerian football to another level, we have same interest and that’s what will help us.

“We have to lay down an example to the younger generation and that’s what most of us who played the game in the past and are now into coaching are doing. We have a target, and we must achieve that working together as a team, so I don’t see any conflict of interest”, he told Charles Diya of New Telegraph.

Former Chelsea and Liverpool youth teamer Dominic Solanke scored his 20th goal of the season for Bournemouth in the English Championship helping them to a 3-1 win over Birmingham City.

Solanke struck in the 31st minute to extend his team’s lead as they continue their push to gain promotion to the English Premier League. They are currently second on the log six points behind leaders Fulham.

The 24 year old has finally delivered on the promise that made him a hit in his teenage years both at club and also national level where he played at several levels for England.

Solanke was a big hit with the England U20 scoring 10 goals from 15 games. He also scored nine goals in 18 games for the U21 but his poor form didn’t help him make the progress many envisage for him with the senior national team.

In 2018 , he turned down the chance to switch to Nigeria from England following an approach from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). According to his representative he is now more open to the idea.

” It’s a discussion we had few months ago. If the option is on the table he will consider it. Playing senior national team football is the dream of many footballers. If approached then a decision won’t be hard to reach”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Optimism greeted the appointment of Emmanuel Amuneke as part of the Super Eagles technical crew ahead of the World Cup qualifiers playoff against Ghana in March.

Amuneke will serve as head coach to Austine Eguavoen who retains his role as interim technical adviser with Salisu Yusuf his first assistant dropping to the role of second assistant, while Paul Aigbogun was sacrificed in the new set up. Joseph Yobo will be the third assistant.

Looking at the career of Amuneke as coach is hard to mention any sustained success since leading Nigeria to the U17 World Cup glory in 2015. A tournament which Nigeria isn’t new to winning as they were champions even before his feat.

It means transiting the team to become U20 champions at world level. A feat that Nigeria has never achieved will be seen as his first step towards writing his name in the history books of Nigerian football as a coach.

A team loaded with talents like Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Nwakali, Samuel Chukwueze, Orji Okonkwo, Kingsley Michael among others surprisingly failed to make it to the Africa U20 World Cup. This result came despite their win away to Sudan.

They were simply no match for the Sudanese in Lagos who got the result they need to qualify for the tournament with a sqaud less in talent than that of Nigeria. Worthy to note is that the Nigerian team went on strike on the eve of the game in Lagos. A sign of how the technical crew didn’t stamp their authority on the young boys who needed guidance.

He made his first real foray into senior management when he was appointed as coach of Tanzania and despite qualifying them for their first Africa Cup of Nations in 39 years, he was dismissed a year to the end of his two years deal.

Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) took the decision after they fail to win any of their games at the AFCON but beyond the results at the tournament, the also cited the breakdown in relationship between the coach and senior members of the team.

The heat of it was when he dropped six senior players before the crucial AFCON qualifiers game against Uganda. In that game Uganda fielded a weakened team as they are already through as group winners. Till date many Tanzanians credit their next door neighbor Uganda for helping them break the duck of their absence at AFCON not Amuneke.

After the Tanzanian experience he went to Sudan and was celebrated as a high level appointment by Al Khartoum SC. A fine pre season raised the expectations of fans but in the league proper  they gained just 11 points from eight matches in the Sudanese Premier League and he was subsequently fired.

He claimed he wasn’t sacked but the club in their statement said he was dismissed three months into his one year deal as results and relationship with some players wasn’t the best and it was affecting performance on the pitch.

Off he went to Egypt, where he is seen as a legend owing to his performance as a player for league giants Zamalek. He joined top division side El-Makkasa El-Makkasa after they ended the contract of Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’.

Amuneke led El-Makkasa in three games in what was his shortest managerial tenure – against Smouha and Al Entag Al Harbi which both ended in 1-1 draws and then a 0-1 defeat to Tala’ea El Gaish in the Egyptian Cup. He was relieved off his role as first team coach. A little over three weeks to the date he was appointed.

Ehab Galal was announced as the new coach with Amuneke moved to the role of director of the club’s academies across Africa. However at that point they didn’t even have an academy in Egypt how much more in Africa.

Several Egyptian news outlet later reported that fallout with some senior players and backroom staff led to his early exit as first team coach as although he has an edge technically. His man management isn’t fit for senior players hence his deployment to their youth team. The youth team project never took off.

His appointment with Nigeria is his fourth sojourn into senior football and it is believed that he has learnt a thing or two about man management at a senior level as it was used against him in three different instance, when he attempted to make the step up from U17 glory to a level higher.

Leicester City winger Ademola Lookman has been cleared by world football governing body FIFA to play for Nigeria after completing a switch of allegiance process from England.

He represented England at several youth levels and has always been viewed as a future international for them at senior level and present England coach Gareth Southgate is a huge fan.

On loan from RB Leipzig of Germany to Leicester City, Lookman who has five goals this season worked with Southgate at U20 level with the coach the first to officially announce the intention of Nigeria to convince him to switch allegiance.

Southgate speaking back then said Lookman is among the players he hope to see in the senior colours of England after turning down three approaches from Nigeria.

“I know every country is quite aggressive in their recruiting and I know they have always had an interest in him, but he is playing and has been in our squads, the 20s, 21s,” Southgate said in 2018.

“So in terms of encouragement through game time, we are doing as much as we possibly can. Lookman knows he has a future with us”.

Lookman’s latest decision will no doubt infuriate the England boss particularly as he is close to returning to the form that made him a hit as a teenager back then at Everton.

Napoli record signing Victor Osimhen has come under the spotlight ahead of this weekend top of the table clash against Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

Osimhen marked his first start since recovering from a facial injury with a goal against Venezia last weekend to move Napoli to within one point of leaders Inter Milan, who were beaten by city rivals AC Milan same weekend.

Tomorrow’s game holds a whole lot in Napoli’s quest to mount a serious title challenge as a win against Inter Milan will see them go top of the league until at least when AC Milan play on Sunday against Sampdoria.

A win for Milan will see them go back to same points with Napoli but still behind the Naples based side unless they score at least six or more without conceding any in return.

Speaking on the top of the table clash between Napoli and Inter, Italian magazine Corriere del Mezzogiorno says it’s time for Osimhen to show his money worth by proving himself against a top Serie A side. Particularly as he has not had a good game against Inter in his previous three games.

A post on the site read thus:

“He will have to overcome himself because so far against the big teams, in the few occasions he has had, he has had little impact. He scored last season against Lazio and Atalanta, he got a penalty against Juventus but he misses the shot in the big matches, in the days that they count more. Against Inter, Victor suffered both in the draw last season at Estadio Maradona and at San Siro this season. “

One name that came out of the blue when Arsenal travelled to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux was 18 year old Nigerian Zach Awe.

Real name Zechariah Olumide Awe, the defender hasn’t been spoken about highly by those who cover the youth team of Arsenal but he appears to have the trust of manager Mikel Arteta.

Awe progressed through the youth ranks at Arsenal and earned his first call up to the first team in the absence of Takehiro Tomiyasu, who isn’t fully fit yet.

A tall player who is composed in possession, Awe is effective at playing the ball out from the back and has cement his spot in the Arsena U23. He has made five appearances at that level this season, scoring once.

Per Arsenal youth team football expert Jeorge Bird, The 18-year-old is also capable of playing in midfield if required, makes some costly mistakes at times but has a lot of potential.