Former Italy and Napoli midfielder Gianfranco Zola has given his take on how Napoli’s front three in attack will look like next season.

Known for his time at English Premier League side Chelsea, Zola had his first breakthrough in professional football at Napoli , where he was from 1989 to 1993 before moving to Parma.

The former West Ham United coach gave his opinion on the trio of Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen who are expected to lead the line for the team next season.

Zola in an interview with Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli was asked about the individual characteristics of the expected front three of Napoli and he gave his opinion starting with Osimhen.

“Osimhen is good at attacking spaces and that makes him dangerous . He will do well in Naples but we don’t have to put pressure on him. Lorenzo Insigne resembles me in certain characteristics in how he plays between the lines and his assists. But also Dries Mertens he has attacking qualities like I had back then”, he said.

Michael James

Chidera Ejuke has been handed a new role at Russian side CSKA Moscow by the coach of the team Viktor Gancharenko as seen in their 3-1 derby win over Spartak Moscow.

Ejuke was introduced in the second half and instead of operating from his traditional role on the flanks he was moved to a more central role in attack and he didn’t disappoint as he scored the third goal for his team.

Shortly after the game, Ejuke told the official website of the team that he took instructions from the coach who told him to enjoy himself in his new role .

In a chat with Owngoalnigeria, the 22 year old revealed the coach told him he sees him as a striker in the future due to his direct style of play which naturally puts defenders on the back foot.

“ The idea according to the coach is to make best use of my ability to run straight at defenders. He said it makes them to sit deep and hence gives us room to operate. It’s a role I really enjoyed playing that day”, he said.

France have handed a first time call up to 16 year old Lesley Ugochukwu Leonard who is a target of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr.

Rohr received glowing reports on the 16 year old and was keen on having him in the team as an alternative to Leicester City Wilfred Ndidi who is for now unchallenged in his spot.

That dream will now take a back seat as he has been called up to the U17 team of France for their training camp which will run from the 21 to 24th of this month. It will form their preparations for the U17 Euro qualifiers schedule for the 30th of October to the 5th of November.

His invitation still doesn’t make him ineligible for Nigeria but if selected for the game proper he will be needing a switch of allegiance process to play for Nigeria in the future.

A defensive midfielder by trade he is rated in same bracket as Eduardo Camavinga who made his Ligue 1 debut at the age of 16 and only recently played for the senior national team of France.

Michael James

Sergio Conceicao has hinted at a senior national team call up to the senior national team of Nigeria for newly signed left back Zaidu Sanusi.

Zaidu joined the team on a five year deal from modest side Santa Clara two weeks ago and since then has featured in pre season games in readiness for the new season in Portugal.

Speaking on the reason why the 22 year old was signed, the coach told O’jogo that he fits the profile of the type of left back he want in his team. He also pointed at his versatility in that he can play more than one role.

During the course of the interview he also said Zaidu is in the senior national team of Nigeria saying that also informed their decision to pay €4 million for his signing.

However, Zaidu has not played for Nigeria at any level which could mean the statement made by the coach is in relation to the last international break where he was called up as exclusively reported by Owngoalnigeria.com.

Already he has submitted his passport details to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the next round of games of the senior national team of Nigeria which will take place in Austria against Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia on the 9th and 13th of October respectively.

Osas Mahawi

Mild changes have been made to the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of their next set of international engagements in October.

The Super Eagles will return to action for the first time since the 4-2 win over Lesotho in Maseru with games against Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia on the 9th and 13th of October respectively.

The games which will be played in Austria will afford the coaches the chance to try out new players ahead of their competitive games in October. Coach is the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr is open to calling up new players.

In the wake of doubts surrounding the availability of players like Leon Balogun, Joe Aribo, Kenneth Omeruo and Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee the coach has been forced to adjust his list, Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered.

The possible absence of the above mentioned players could see the coach call up players who were not originally in the list but in the long term plans of the coach particularly for future games.

“ Rohr is aware of the injury doubts about some players in the team and already plans are underway to call up replacement in their positions. All we are waiting for is to know if they will be able to make it or not. By this week we should know better”, a source close to the coach told owngoalnigeria.com.

Osas Mahawi 

Former Nigeria international Victor Moses has praised the current crop of players in the senior national team of Nigeria terming them as exciting to watch.

The winger who has been frozen out of the Chelsea set up following his return from a loan spell with Inter Milan retired from international football after the 2018 World Cup, but he insist he still watch the senior national team of Nigeria.

“ I watch the team when I have the time and they are playing. It’s my country, so it’s not easy to stop watching them. The present bunch are exciting to watch . They can only get better”, he said in a video interview made available to Owngoalnigeria.com.

He was however non committal when he was asked if he will be open to the idea of rescinding his decision to quit the senior national team of Nigeria.

“ It’s a phase of my career that is on hold for now. I enjoyed my time with the team and left when I believe they can cope without me. It’s going nicely for them”.

Ade Emmanuel 

Nantes of France wing maestro Moses Simon will headline the wingers in the list of the Super Eagles for their upcoming friendly games in October.

The team will play against Côte d’Ivoire before taking on Tunisia on the 9th and 13th respectively. The list of players for the game will be made public next week.

Owngoalnigeria.com can however reveal that four wingers were picked by coach Gernot Rohr led by Simon who was last season voted Nantes player of the year.

Villarreal Samuel Chukwueze made the list as well as Bordeaux of France Samuel Kalu. CSKA Moscow new signing Chidera Ejuke completes the quartet.

Ejuke scored his first goal for CSKA Moscow in their 3-1 win over Spartak Moscow. He finished off a fine team move with a low finish to open his goal account for his new team.

Meanwhile Club Brugge want away winger Emmanuel Dennis Bonaventure and Monaco Henry Onyekuru are likely going to miss out on selection for the game. Both players could however still make the list if one of the above mentioned players pull out of the game.

Ade Emmanuel 

Oghenekaro Etebo recently made a loan move to Turkish side Galatasary from English Championship side Stoke City after been told he isn’t in their plans for the season.

His move is his second straight loan move after spending the second half of last season on loan to La Liga side Getafe. He wasn’t handed a permanent contract at the end of his loan spell.

Already the former Warri Wolves midfielder is fighting for his position in the Super Eagles following the emergence of Joe Aribo who has formed a formidable partnership with the duo of Alex Iwobi and Wilfred Ndidi.

The trio were impressive in three out of the four games Nigeria have played after the 2019 Africa Cup of nations, including two in the qualifiers for AFCON 2021 where they picked up wins against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively.

Etebo last player for Nigeria in the 2-2 draw against Ukraine where he filled up the midfield three with Ndidi not available for the game. Since then he hasn’t gotten a look in.

His move to the Turkish league has further diminished his chances of reclaiming his spot as Rohr isn’t so impressed with the standard of the competition in Turkey.

In recent times he has shunned players playing in the league citing the not too competitive nature of the league as his reason. One case to note is that of Anthony Nwakaeme who hasn’t been given a second chance despite his fine form for Trabzonspor.

So far the only player Rohr has accommodated in his team who plays in Turkey is Shehu Abdullahi owing to the fact that he has been a key player in the team long before his move to Turkey, where he plays for second division side Bursaspor.

For Etebo he is one of the trusted players of Rohr since he was appointed as coach but will that be enough for him to keep his spot? Time will tell.

Osas Mahawi 

Samuel Chukwueze has earned praises from his manager at Villarreal Unai Emery on his performance in their 1-1 draw against Huesca in their first La Liga game.

Chukwueze was on from start to finish operating as the right winger but during the course of the game he drifted to the middle as they seek to break down a resolute Huesca team.

Although he wasn’t at his fleeting best in the eyes of many, Emery however was pleased with his contribution and gave him a mention while speaking on the areas which he was happy about in the game.

“We were good defensively. We managed to snuff out the majority of our opponent’s counter-attacking actions, and we spent a lot of time near Huesca’s area due to our wing play. We lacked a bit of cutting edge in the final third. We want to improve on that”, he said.

Osas Mahawi 

Josh Maja is keen on becoming the first choice striker of the senior national team of Nigeria. A role that presently belongs to Napoli record signing Victor Osimhen.

Maja made his debut for Nigeria in the 2-2 friendly draw against Ukraine while he was playing the role of back up striker at the Ligue 1 side.

Now he has established himself as the first choice striker with two starts out of three games where he has also found the back of the net once.

Linked with a move to West Ham, the 22 year old played it down insisting that he is very happy at Bordeaux and want to make his mark and become a hit with the national team of Nigeria.

“Ah, the end of the transfer window! I’ll be there! My mind is entirely turned towards here, I’m focused on Bordeaux, I want to have a good season here (…) For myself and push for the senior team of Nigeria , I have aim to score a certain number of goals… but I don’t like to say how many.

“I obviously also want to play more than last year. For the team, the season is very exciting, we have a lot of good players, we has the ability to do great things. Aim for the top 6 yes, we have to do better than last year. ”

Ade Emmanuel