Former Italy and Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola says he had no knowledge of Napoli Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen before his record breaking move to the Serie A side.

The former coach of West Ham in an interview monitored by OwnGoalNigeria.comeditorial team said he now knows the Nigerian and sees him as a talented players who can only get better with time as he is still young.

He sees the forward as the heir to Chelsea record signing from Inter Milan Romelu Lukaku as they share several similarities in the way that they play.

Osimhen has been on fire in the last two games with a brace against Leicester City in the Europa League before scoring his first Serie A goal to propel Napoli to their fourth consecutive win in the first four games of the season.

Zola praised the set up of the Napoli team singling out Osimhen as one who can succeed the legacy of Lukaku who had two happy seasons in Italy, helping Inter Milan to the league title last season.

Napoli are really strong in every department,” Zola, a former Partenopei striker told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“They have Osimhen, Insigne and Politano up front, they quality in midfield, a solid defence with Kalidou Koulibaly and two reliable goalkeepers. I can’t see weak points in their team.

“I didn’t know Osimhen when he arrived last year, but I’ve studied him a little and I’ve discovered a talented player.

“His movements are so good and his athletic strength can be devastating. He is Lukaku’s heir, he is still young and with room for improvement.”

Nigeria international defender Adekunle Adeleke has sparked a tug of ownership between Abia Warriors and Enyimba ahead of the start of a new season in Nigeria.

The defender has been a part of the main team of the senior national team of Nigeria for the last four competitive but he is yet to get his debut. He joined Enyimba last month where he is expected to be a part of their squad for the CAF Confederation Cup.

However in a remarkable twist of event, Abia Warriors via a press release are claiming that the defender is still their player as he has a valid contract which will run till the year 2023.

“Adeleke is still a bonafide player who has a subsisting contract up to 2023” the club media officer Nwosu Chigozie stated.

“We regard the news as untrue because no official communication was opened with regards to his transfer to any club. Abia warriors warn clubs to remain professional always.

A top official of the Nigeria Football Federation has replied comments made by coach of Roma Jose Mourinho to striker Tammy Abraham over his international future..

Abraham turned down the chance to play for Nigeria insisting on continuing his international career at senior level with England where he has six caps. The last of which came in 2020 in the 4-0 win over Iceland.

Mourinho who signed the striker permanently for Roma believe he should be open to switching allegiance to Nigeria if his form fail to get the attention of head coach of the English team Gareth Southgate. “I am trying to create a monster of a forward for Southgate.

“Unless he doesn’t have proper eyes. Then I would suggest Tammy Abraham switch countries. He deserves more caps under his name”, he was quoted to have said.

However, he has played three friendlies and three competitive game for England, the last of which came when he was already above 21 making a switch to Nigeria almost impossible despite the amendment to the rule on players switching nationality.

” We can only wish Tammy Abraham all the best but when it comes to playing for Nigeria, it is impossible because of his involvement with England. It will be a career mistake if in the long run he want to play for Nigeria because he had the chance but choose the difficult path of representing England. There’s no going back base on the rule”, a chieftain of the NFF told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Head coach of Napoli Luciano Spalletti has explained the strengths and weaknesses of Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen after his run of three goals in his last two games.

Osimhen moved from the criticism over his poor performance against Juventus to grabbing a brace against Leicester City in the Europa League before netting again in the 4-0 win over Udinese in the Serie A.

Spalletti who took over as coach of Napoli in the summer tipped the Nigerian who is the club record buy to surpass his last season tally of ten goals in the Italian Serie A this season.

However for that to happen, the coach hint at some obvious flaws in the game of the 23 year old forward who is the first choice striker for the senior national team of Nigeria.

“We have quality in attack. Osimhen is really strong, he lacks quality in tight spaces, but he’s hard to catch in open spaces. The wingers are outstanding in one vs one situations”, he was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

Former England youth international Ovie Ejaria has gotten the green light to represent Nigeria at senior international level per quotes credited to coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr.

Ejaria trained with the Nigeria U17 team of 2013 but had to leave the camp due to his education. He then went on to becoming a part of the England youth set up and won the U20 World Cup.

The former Liverpool teen went on to make his first team debut for Liverpool but failed to nail a permanent spot in the team leading to several loan spells before his permanent move to English Championship side Reading.

Last week he scored a brace to hand them a 2-1 win over Fulham and it once again reopened discussions on his international future as it is public knowledge that he has filed paper to switch nationality to Nigeria since 2019.

A source close to Rohr revealed, the coach was asked about Ejaria, and he said the midfielder is on his radar and more of same performance like the one he had over the weekend will no doubt brighten his chance of making the team in the future.

He confirmed the switch is done but for now they are other players ahead of the 23 year old but he is no doubt a part of the larger pool of players who are now available for the coach to pick from.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has once again ignored the fine form of Watford forward Emmanuel Dennis in his list of players for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers game against Central Africa Republic (CAR).

Dennis was recently crowned the player of the month at the newly promoted English Premier League side and he celebrated it with his second goal of the season in their win over Norwich City at the weekend

His fine form notwithstanding he will once again not be part of the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria when they take on CAR in back to back 2022 World Cup qualifiers next month..

Sources close to the coach said he has already put together a list of players numbering 30 to be submitted to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for official release but players listed have been contacted already.

” There is no new player in the list. The idea is to maintain the 30 players who played in the last round of games against Liberia and Cape Verde respectively. Barring any last minute change of mind Emmanuel Dennis isn’t in the squad. That I know”, a source told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

The dispute over the scorer of Napoli’s first goal in their 4-0 thrashing of Udinese in the Serie A yesterday has been laid to rest by Lorenzo Insigne who was initially credited for the goal.

Insigne well weighted lob over the goalkepper of Udinese Marco Silvestri was heading in but Victor Osimhen ensured it sailed over the line by seeing off a tracking Udinese defender and providing a touch just before it crossed the line.

Osimhen was credited with the goal by the Serie A making it his first league goal of the season but it didn’t stop the debate as to who should be credited with the goal and the question was put through to Insigne after the game .

“Did you tell Osimhen he stole your goal? “No, we’re joking with each other, that’s okay. The important thing was to make a great performance, then the goal will come”, he told DAZN after the game.

Nigeria international forward Victor Osimhen followed up his brace in the Europa League on Thursday with the opening goal for Napoli who were 4-1 winners over Udinese in the Serie A clash.

The Nigerian was determined to get to the end of a majestic lob over the goalkeeper of Udinese by Lorenzo Insigne and got the slightest of touch to guide home the opening goal of the game.

It was initially credited to Insigne but after a review it was given to the Nigerian and it becomes his first Serie A goal of the season as he aims to better last season count on ten goals.

On Thursday he officially started his quest for goals this season with a brace against Napoli. He now has three goals in all competitions and four in his last four games for club and country as he scored for Nigeria against Cape Verde in the World Cup qualifiers.

Coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr is open to the idea of AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori switching nationality to Nigeria if the rules permit, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Tomori was in the news few days ago when he spoke glowingly about his Nigerian roots despite the fact that he turned down the option of representing Nigeria in favour of England.

Two years ago he picked the English national team ahead of Nigeria but his recent comments to DAZN during an interview suggest he is open to the idea of playing for Nigeria. He is currently excelling at AC Milan.

“I feel very Nigerian. When I was little my parents spoke to me in Youruba, the ethnic group I belonged to. My favourite food is Jollof rice, a kind of rice stew; I don’t know how to describe it, but it is a very tasty dish, very African, very strong”, he said.

Sources close to Rohr revealed the coach will be more than happy to have the 23 year old in his team judging by the way he has grown into a full blown defender since his move to AC Milan.

However the wish of the coach can only be possible if FIFA allow him to switch nationality as he was above the age for players to switch after playing for another national team at senior level. He was above 21 when he played for England at competitive level.

Linked heavily with a move away from the team after scoring 33 goals last season, the €25 million Genk wanted by Genk proved to be too much for teams who were keen on having the 27 year old in their squad.

The Nigerian appears to have gotten over the disappointment by accepting the offer of the team to extend his deal with a new pay package which makes him the highest earning player in the history of the club.

Sources privy to the deal revealed it’s worth in excess of €5 million a year in bonuses and salaries. Including special clauses like scoring a certain amount of goals and also finishing as top scorer.

His new deal puts him in the bracket of some of Nigeria’s highest earning player at the moment. He is still hoping to seal a move away in the next summer transfer window with four goals from the first league game of the season.