The senior national team of Nigeria have dropped seven places in the latest ranking released by world football governing body FIFA for the month of July.

In the month under review Nigeria played three international games which ended in two defeats and a draw as they were beaten by Cameroon and Mexico. They also played out a draw against Cameroon in what was a two legged friendly game.

Owing to the slide down the table they are now 34th in the world and in Africa drop to 5th behind the quartet of Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco ahead of the start of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.

Nigeria will be aiming to keep their spot in the top five heading into the final round of qualifiers as it will be used in determining teams that will be seeded for the two legged version of the qualifiers.

They will begin their quest for a spot in the next World Cup with a game against Liberia on the 3rd of September in Lagos. Liberia meanwhile moved up with three spots to position number 150 in the global ranking.

Thomas Frank the head coach of newly promoted English Premier League side Brentford has hinted at the role new signing Frank Onyeka will play when they take on Arsenal in Friday’s first game of the English Premier League new season.

Onyeka was signed from Midtjylland of Denmark after proving himself as one of the best in his role in the League and so far he hasn’t looked out of place in pre season game.

On Friday, they will take on Arsenal in the opening game of the new English Premier League season and Onyeka is expected to play some part in the game as they kickstart their adventure in the top division of English football.

While speaking on the qualities of the one cap Nigeria international, Frank said Onyeka suits the style of Brentford’s pattern of play but he could also play other roles base on how they are set up.

“I am looking forward to getting Frank in the building. We think he is a strong addition to the squad, and we are looking forward to working with him. He is a very dynamic player”, he told the club’s website.

“Frank plays as an eight in our system, he is very good at getting from box to box and will be valuable to us when we don’t have the ball. He has come from the Danish league and was one of the best midfield players in that league, we think he has the potential to develop further. All the coaches here are looking forward to working with Frank and pushing him to a higher level.”

Cyriel Dessers will be handed the top striker role at Belgium side Genk when Paul Onuachu leaves the team before the end of the transfer window as widely expected.

Genk have concluded a deal to sign Ike Ugbo on permanent terms from Chelsea following his impressive loan spell at fellow Belgium side Cercle Brugge last season.

The decision to sign the forward means the team now has three senior forwards on their books , a situation which could speed up the exit of Onuachu who is on the want list of several teams in Europe after scoring 35 goals last season.

Dessers who joined the team from Dutch side Heracles where he was top scorer has been told he will step up to the role of his fellow Nigerian in the event of his likely departure despite the signing of Ugbo.

26 year old Dessers will be hoping to get back to goal scoring ways to boost his chances of another call up to the senior national team of Nigeria, where he will be up against Onuachu for the role of back up to first choice striker Victor Osimhen.

SKF Sered of Slovakia will make a decision on the future of 22 year old Nigerian goalkeeper Matthew Yakubu after axing him as first choice goalkeeper.

Newly signed Arsenal goalkeeper Dejan IIiev has kept goal in their last two consecutive games since the completion of his loan deal. A move made by the club after Yakubu conceded another silly goal yet again in their opening 0-3 loss against MSK Zilina.

The club were hoping the invitation of Yakubu to the senior national team of Nigeria after an excellent run of games will boost his confidence and also make him marketable to other teams, but reverse has been the case since his involvement with Nigeria.

He has moved from the shot stopper who was picking up clean sheets to fun to one who now concedes goals which looks much more easier to save. His ability to play with his legs which is seen as his strong point has also been a cause for concern lately.

His height which has always been his biggest disadvantage is now more of an issue than it was before despite the fact that he has a very good leap. Club sources also said his attitude hasn’t helped as well.

Yakubu had a fall out with the team upon his return from the Nigeria national team camp as he insist on having a pay rise to reflect his present status as a goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria.

It led to a stand off before an agreement was reached on extending his contract which will likely be terminated in January if he fails to dislodge IIiev as first choice goalkeeper.

Ex Arsenal U23 defender Joseph Olowu is making significant progress in his bid to join Manchester United as he excelled in another trial game with the U23s of the English Premier League giants.

For the second game running , the 21 year old paired Paul McShane in central defence and this time around they ran out 4-2 winners against Sheffield Wednesday.

In his first test game five days ago he was on for 57 minutes in a 2-2 draw against Kidderminster. His first game since he was released by Arsenal at the end of last season.

While at Arsenal he spent time on loan to Irish side Cork City in order to gain first team experience. He later left for 5th tier English side Wealdstone FC where he made 13 appearances before returning back to Arsenal.

Injury stopped the central defender who is also comfortable as a right back from making the Nigeria U20 team to the 2019 World Cup in Poland after his decision to pledge his international future to Nigeria.

Barring a last minute change of mind Joshua Oluwayemi will get another chance with the senior national team of Nigeria when they regroup for the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

The Tottenham Hotspur U23 shot stopper was a part of the B team that played against Mexico in an international friendly that ended 4-0 in favour of the Mexicans. He was an unused substitute following his late call up as replacement for the injured Ikechukwu Ezenwa.

We gathered he is likely to still be a part of the squad with coach Gernot Rohr not having the option of calling up a goalkeeper from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) which is on break.

Oluwayemi who is the third choice goalkeeper of Spurs but the first choice for the U23 will at that time be actively involved in English Premier League 2 games putting him in a strong position for a call up.

Although Rohr still has Kaizer Chiefs Daniel Akpeyi as an option, Oluwayemi is seen as a better prospect as back up to the duo of Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho who are the first and second choice respectively.

Nantes of France and Super Eagles of Nigeria winger Moses Simon says the arrival of Lionel Messi to French Ligue 1 will bring about increase in visibility of the league.

Simon who is seen as the livewire of Nantes for the past two seasons played against the Argentine while he was at Levante. A game where he got the shirt of the six times  Balon d’or winner.

Looking ahead to possibly facing him again when Nantes clash against PSG, Simon says his signing is a win for anyone associated with French football “ It’s a big boost to the image of the league. It’s a move that will see many people watch the league now. In Nigeria it will be great as they will get to see me play more with the arrival of Messi now”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

26 year old Simon has scored twice in three games against PSG in the two seasons he has spent in Ligue 1 and he says he look forward to scoring against them for the third season running.

“ I think the games will now be bigger than ever and my aim is to maintain my scoring run but what is most important is for us to pick up points as PSG are the favorites going into the season”, he concluded.

Newly promoted English Premier League side Watford will in the coming days send out two Nigerians on loan in order to create space for players who they believe fit into the plans of the manager.

Out of the four senior Nigeria internationals on their books only the trio of William Troost-Ekong, Oghenekaro Etebo and Emmanuel Dennis have a spot in the team for next season.

Fringe Nigeria international Isacc Success who ironically is the longest serving Nigerian at the club has been told to look elsewhere. The club even accepted an offer from Udinese to have him on loan but he is reluctant and insist he want to fight for his spot in the team.

Nigeria youth international Tom Dele Bashiru has also been told he will be better off going out on loan after spending a year out on the sideline. The idea is to go to a team where he is sure to get games to help him return to the shape he was before the injury.

Aside the duo, the club is said to be unhappy with the performance and lifestyle of new signing Dennis. The Nigerian has so far failed to impress in pre season games and his addiction to social media has also pitched him against the team.

It’s not the first time that Dennis has had issues relating to his conduct on and off the pitch. He had same issues at Club Brugge and later Cologne where he went on loan.

Four caps Nigeria international winger Anayo Iwuala was recently signed by Esperance of Tunisia for $500,000 from Nigeria Professional Football League side Enyimba FC of Aba.

Enyimba initially placed a €1 million price tag on the 22 year old but were forced to drop their valuation after the winger’s not too impressive run of games for the senior national team of Nigeria but the message has been passed already.

Teams from Denmark, Greece, France and Belgium all made checks on him and also made contacts with Enyimba but the highest offer Enyimba got was €200,000, which is even not a straight cash deal as it involves several clauses and add ons.

Enyimba went from getting multiple enquiries to having no team from Europe check on the speedy ace for a month. Between that time teams from North Africa who have been told Anayo will only move to a team in Europe crept back into the picture.

This time around they found a way of getting to the player himself and made him to be aware of the financial package that is in for him if he decide to sign the dotted lines. The teams we were made to understand were Pyramids FC of Egypt, Raja Casablanca of Morocco and Esperance of Tunisia.

Esperance were the first to officially contact Enyimba with an offer of $200,000 which was outrightly rejected by Enyimba. Their next bid was $250,000 but just like the first it was knocked back by Enyimba.

Anayo was growing impatient over the impasse as he has his mind made up on the move. Enyimba in order not to act unreasonable told Esperance a deal will be concluded if they accept to pay $500,000.

The Tunisians were not convinced he is worth that amount of money but when the representatives of the winger leaked interest from Pyramids and Raja Casablanca to them they were forced to accelerate things at that price.

Two days after an agreement was reached, Pyramids submitted their first bid which was around $600,000 but at that stage Enyimba have already given their words to Esperance.

However the deal almost collapsed when Raja offered $700,000 but just like it was with the bid from Pyramids, Enyimba respected their agreement with Esperance but went a step further by adding a 20% sell on clause to the deal.

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Nasarawa United say they are in the dark over the transfer of defender Tebo Franklin to Swedish side BK Hacken.

The Swedish side announced the signing of the defender on an initial loan deal with the option of handing him a four year deal base on the success of his stay on loan.

BK Hacken in a statement revealed they have been tracking the defender for a while as a matter of fact since spotting him at the famous Tiki Taka tournament two years ago.

In their statement, Nasarawa United wasn’t mentioned as the team where he was signed from leading OwnGoalNigeria.com to ask questions over the move.

“ He lied to us because he told us he was going to the embassy to submit his passport for a visa as he aimed to travel after our last assignment which was the Aiteo Cup final that we lost. We were shocked to read that he has signed for a team in Sweden and even started training”, a club official told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

However a source close to the player revealed they were outsmarted by the player’s representatives who have kept the player on loan at the club for two seasons.

“ Nasarawa United didn’t act like a top club. Tebo was on loan for two seasons at the club, that is enough time to make the deal permanent but they didn’t and his representatives took advantage of it to move him without their knowledge”, he said.

“ I can tell you that his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) won’t be Issues by Nasarawa United because his loan deals has expired. They don’t even have a percentage of his transfer fee if he eventually leave on a permanent deal”.