Nigeria U20 forward Suleiman Sani is set for a record transfer from Slovakian side AS Trenčín before the close of the ongoing January transfer window according to British journalist Jacob Ben.

Signed from popular Nigerian football academy GBS in Jos, he took the Nigerian top division by storm as a 16 year old during a brief stint with Akwa United. He has since blossomed into a coveted talent, which earned him a spot in the Nigeria U20 team for the world cup.

“Understand 19-year-old winger Sani Suleiman is drawing interest from Spurs, Frankfurt, Anderlecht and Sevilla. No teenager from outside Europe’s big-five leagues has more progressive ball carries per 90 minutes this season (5.54). Slovak side AS Trenčín want around €6m”, he posted on his official handle on X formerly known as Twitter.

For €6m he will smash the record of held by Brazilian Wesley Moraes, who transferred to Belgian Club Brugge for 4.2 million euros at the end of January 2016 from the Slovakian side. He then went to English Aston Villa for 25 million.

In December the general manager of the club confirmed his likely departure in January alongside his Nigerian teammate Adams Yakubu, who has since joined Ukrainian League leaders LNZ.

“It is highly likely that he and Adam Yakubu will leave in the winter. We are counting on two or three players leaving the club,” Trenčín general manager Róbert Rybníček told ŠPORT.sk at the end of December.

Other reports has it that the 19 year old is also on the radar of Dutch NEC Nijmegen, the Spanish side Villarreal, English Premier League sides Brentford and Chelsea FC, as well Italian giants AC Milan.

Daniel Martins

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Former Nigeria international defender Celestine Babayaro didn’t list top striker Victor Osimhen in his list of players who have impressed so far for Nigeria at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria will travel to Marrakech today for their quarter final game against Algeria as they bid to better their record of losing finalist at the last edition of the AFCON. Babayaro has picked five players who have so far impressed him.

Without making an reference to the bust up that Osimhen had with Ademola Lookman during the Super Eagles 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of 16, Babayaro said it will be unfair to other players if Osimhen is picked ahead of them.

” Well as good as Osimhen has been in the tournament. You won’t say he is among our best five players so far. To me I don’t think he is and that’s not a reaction to the bust up with Ademola Lookman the other day”, Babayaro explained.

” If I am to pick the five best players so far. I will go for Lookman as the number one, Alex Iwobi as my number two, Jerome Akor the boy from Sevilla will third, Wilfred Ndidi is having his best tournament so he has to be there and finally Calvin Bassey is a trojan at the back”, he stated.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Ahead of Saturday’s AFCON quarter final game against Algeria, we pick five mistakes that the Super Eagles of Nigeria must avoid if they are to make it past Algeria.

Both teams head into the game with a hundred percent record after winning all of their games so far at the tournament. It has made the game, which is a repeat of the 2019 semi final one to watch among other games.

1. Make Their Chances Count – Despite scoring ten goals in their last three games, the Nigerian team have been wasteful in front of goal. Largely due to poor decision or a rush finish in front of goal. Against the tournament’s best defence they have to make sure it counts especially early chances.

2. Avoid Picking Up Unnecessary Bookings – It’s one part that has gone unnoticed in the Nigerian team. For instance despite hitting four past Mozambique in the quarter final.

They picked up three yellow cards. Knowing the North Africans very well. They will no doubt resort to play acting to get more Nigerian players booked. Calvin Bassey in particular has to be careful.

3. Be More Compact In Defence – The Super Eagles in all of their games so far in the tournament have conceded chances or goals from opening slicing their defence open with ease. Their high press is not helping matter and it has to be checked against a highly technical Tunisian side.

4. Be Wary Of Long Range Effort – If there is one thing Tunisia have shown in this tournament. It’s their ability from range. It’s one area that Nigeria must try to limit and above that make sure goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali who can be erratic keeps a calm head and also stay focused.

5. Defend Set Piece Better – As it is with most technical sides, Tunisia as well will try to make the best use of free kicks and corner kicks, especially as they have shown us that they are comfortable with their opponents having the ball.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria returned to training yesterday after skipping a session over unpaid bonuses for the first four games of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com.

Yesterday after getting assurance from top officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the team returned to training and had a one and half hour session.

All eyes were on the team’s top striker Victor Osimhen after his bust up with fellow striker Ademola Lookman, during the course of the 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of 16.

Osimhen cut a lone figure for most of the session, after missing out on a chance to tender a public apology to his teammates as expected by many. However his teammates don’t appear to be bothered.

” You people are just overreacting. Osimhen is like that even in training so it’s nothing new to the rest of the team. It’s in his nature to be that explosive but it’s nothing serious”, a player in the team said.

” As a new player in the team, the other senior players told us about similar incidents in the past which was amicably resolved. To you people outside it’s a big issue, but here we see it as normal because it happens almost every time”, he stated.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

The senior national team of Nigeria are back in training ahead of their game against Algeria in the quarter final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, after refusing to train and also travel to Marrakech in protest over unpaid bonuses, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

They boycotted yesterday’s recovery session after the 4-0 win over Mozambique in the round of 16. They were also due to travel to Marrakech today but refused on the grounds of unpaid bonuses.

Since the start of the tournament they have not been paid a single bonus, and ahead of Saturday’s game against Algeria they insisted on getting full payment before they will go out to train, or travel to the city of the game.

After a meeting with top officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the players returned to training today and will travel tomorrow after receiving assurances that the wages will be paid before the game.

In their explanation, the NFF said the funds have been approved and paid but is yet to hit the individual accounts of the players, due to the delay that is usually associated with converting Naira to Dollars via the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Just when we thought the players altercation in the aftermath of the match between Nigeria and Mozambique has been nipped in the bud and that sanity has returned to the Super Eagles camp, another issue capable of destroying of bringing the beautiful game into disrepute is again rearing it’s ugly head.

The players after series of meetings with the NFF had insisted that they will prefer to be paid in foreign currencies anytime they are on international assignment outside Nigeria.

The money for all group matches against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda was ready since last week, the team secretary informed the players and asked if they will want the monies paid directly into their Naira account as this monies were paid in the Nigeria currency, but the players insisted that they want the money paid in dollars.

So what normally happens in such cases, is that the money is paid into their domiciliary accounts through the central bank of Nigeria. That process takes days and could extend into weeks.

Infact, my very reliable source told me that individual players have been shown evidence of payment, and have been advised to wait for the money to drop in just a matter of days.

I repeat, all first round bonuses have been paid and will drop in just a matter of days from now.

The NFF and indeed the Sports ministy have maintained regular contacts with the CBN and hopefully before the end of this weak, the players will start getting their money according to my source.

For the second round win against Mozambique, the money has been processed and will soon go through the same process and hopefully, the players will start getting their alerts soon as promised.

Only yesterday, I wrote in one of my publications that players of the Super Eagles stand to get $12,500 each for their second round victory against Mozambique. $15,000 if they beat Algeria in the quarter final, $17,500 for a semi final victory and $20,000 each if they lift the trophy.

So why this fresh crisis? Let’s stay focused, these boys stand to be billionaires in few days if they can concentrate and complete the task ahead of them. Just few days ago, the Federal government fulfilled all outstanding promises and put smile on their faces, who is saying they cant do even more?

Written by- Adewale Ajayi

Players of the senior national team of Nigeria say they won’t train or travel to Marrakech for their quarter final game against Algeria on Saturday unless there outstanding bonuses are paid, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The players according to veteran Nigerian journalist Oluwashina Okeleji have not been paid any bonus since the start of the tournament, where they have won all of their four games so far.

They are saying that they want their bonuses from the games against Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Mozambique paid, else they won’t travel or train ahead of the game on Saturday.

Officials of the team are also not left out, and it’s a similar situation to the one that happened during the world cup qualifiers playoff, where the team refused to train ahead of the final game against DR Congo which they ended up losing.

Senior officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) led by chairman Shehu Dikko will meet with the team in a bid to find a solution to this impasse, which is threatening to rock the team’s fine ru at the tournament so far.

Officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will also be a part of the meeting in a bid to resolve the dispute.

Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman

Super Eagles legend Daniel Amokachi says the team’s breakaway star at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) Jerome Akor is not like him following comparisons of their style of play, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Akor’s power playing style at the AFCON where he has two assists and a goal has drawn comparisons with the days of Amokachi, who was also very known for his pace, power and clinical finish.

Amokachi is also known and respected with his ability to play in the hole behind the main striker like Akor, but he said he is yet to see what led to the comparisons in the first place.

” Akor is a good player and like me his origin is Benue State. I will be very honest with you that I am yet to see how he plays like me during my days. But I like him a lot and pray he gets to the height of his career”, Amokachi said.

The Sevilla player is expected to keep his spot in the team for the quarter final game against Algeria on Saturday, and Amokachi is confident that the team can get a result against Algeria.

” For revenge sake I wanted DR Congo as the next opponent of the Super Eagles. Algeria did very well to beat them and I expect Nigeria not to underrate them on Saturday and hopefully they will progress”, he stated.

Ade Emmanuel