Former Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro says Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland isn’t in anyway better than Napoli record buy Victor Osimhen.

Haaland emerged as the talk of Europe last season when he exploded with goals in the UEFA Champions League group stages for Red Bull Salzburg before making a high profile switch to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in January.

He continued his fine form for the German side and ended the season with 17 goals in 16 games despite his impressive numbers, Babayaro insist it isn’t enough to rate him higher than Osimhen.

“ Haaland has always played in teams that are set up to attack unlike Osimhen. His numbers in Belgium for a modest side is quite remarkable. He followed that up with another good return for Lille who weren’t at their level last season.

“ You look from where Osimhen is coming from and compare to Haaland. There isn’t much difference. Both are talented and Osimhen will no doubt be a star in Naples for Napoli. He has conquered the most difficult part of his career while at Wolfsburg “.

Osas Mahawi

The battle for who will be in goal for the senior national team of Nigeria when they play their next set of friendly game has gotten fiercer with the return of Francis Uzoho to full fitness.

Uzoho is back in training with Apoel Nicosia after missing the second half of last season due to an injury he picked up while on international duty with Nigeria in the 1-1 friendly draw against Brazil.

Despite his injury setback Apoel signed him on a permanent basis from Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna base on his impressive showing before the injury.

In his absence Maduka Okoye performed admirably well for the Nigerian team for the remaining part of the game against Brazil, and was set to keep his spot in competitive games before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to international football.

Between that time and now Matthew Yakubu burst into the scene for Slovakian side SKF Sered and as expected caught the attention of coach Gernot Rohr after posting four consecutive clean sheets .

As the Super Eagles get set to resume camping and training for the October games in Austria , the goalkeeper position is one that will see the above trio if called up battle it out to be first choice for the games against Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia respectively.

CSKA Moscow new signing Chidera Ejuke has shed more light on some of the qualities that helped him conquered the Dutch League while at Heerenveen last season.

The 22 year old who is set to be handed his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria when they converge for their next international engagement is slowly settling down to life in Russia.

Comfortable on either flanks much has been said about his abilities to go past his markers with ease. A quality he willingly admit is his strength.

Speaking on his qualities , he said his style is very direct and simple to understand as he is the type of player who likes to attract defenders to himself due to his dribbling abilities.

“ My style is very direct. I like to entertain when on the ball because dribbling comes natural to me. However I am a different kind of entertainer because I also like to score goals. Getting past defenders give me joy”, he said .

Ade Emmanuel 

NPFL 2019 hotshot Sunusi Ibrahim is waiting on the wings for his next career move after missing out on a chance to bag a deal with recently relegated English team Watford.

Prior to the lockdown, the forward who will be 18 in October had a trail with the English Championship side in his bid to bag a contract with the team.

However that didn’t go as planned and he is back in Nigeria waiting for his next career move. The wait made him miss the entirety of the Nigeria Professional Football League that was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports has it that he will most likely travel to Sweden were Ostersunds are favorite to clinch his services as they see him as a replacement for Kadiri Attah who recently left the club for Lommel SK of Belgium.

When he turns 18 and with the return of international flights after the ease of the lockdown in Nigeria he will travel to Sweden for talks and possible signing of a deal with the Swedish side.

Emanuel Emegha grabbed the headlines yesterday for scoring what ended as a consolation goal for Sparta Rotterdam in their 1-2 pre season loss to Borussia Dortmund.

The 17 year old who is born to a Dutch mother and a Nigerian father has been tipped to be among one of the breakaway stars of the Eredivisie next season with the way he has acquitted himself in pre season so far.

If that happens it will naturally trigger a tug for his international future as he is eligible to play for both Nigeria and the Netherlands but hasn’t represented any of the country at any level.

At the moment, the forward sees his international future more with Nigeria than the Netherlands and only recently he granted an interview where he picked Napoli and Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen as his idol.

Blessed with pace, power and skill his fearless nature despite playing among older people has caught the eyes particularly the way he takes his chances when they come his way.

As players of the Super Eagles face an anxious wait for the list of players who will be picked by coach Gernot Rohr for the upcoming friendly games in October. Owngoalnigeria.com takes a look at players who could possible miss out.

The games will be in Austria against former African Champions Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia on the 9th and 13th of October respectively. One big omission could be Oghenekaro Etebo.

Etebo hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since the end of the Spanish La Liga season where he spent the second half of last season on loan to Getafe. He returned to Stoke but still isn’t considered for a spot in the team in their quest for promotion to the English Premier League .

He is in Turkey where he is expected to seal a loan switch to Galatasaray and that move could cost him a spot in the team for the game with Rohr most likely leaving him out in order to help him settle at his new club.

However the midfielder faces a fight on his hand upon his return to the team with Joe Aribo striking a very good understanding with Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi in the heart of the team.

Henry Onyekuru has started the long road to please Rohr with a string of above average performances for Monaco in the first two games of the new season in France. It’s not clear if he will be picked with the emergence of Chidera Ejuke who has been called to the team as one of the wingers. Rohr often plays the former Everton forward on the flanks.

While Ikechukwu Ezenwa is already out of the team for the game. There are still doubts over the inclusion of Daniel Akpeyi despite his return to full fitness after suffering concussion few days ago. Rohr has plans to call a new goalkeeper in addition to the duo of Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho.

Shehu Abdullahi failed to secure promotion with second division Turkish side Bursaspor. The 27 year old

Zaidu Sanusi recently made the headlines when he made a big career move to Portuguese side FC Porto after a season with newly promoted Santa Clara.

Zaidu was one of the revelations of the Portuguese top flight league last season and he was already in line for a call up to the senior national team of Nigeria before his high profile move to Porto.

Owngoalnigeria.com Ade Emmanuel takes a look at why he could displace Jamilu Collins and become first choice left back of the senior national team of Nigeria.

Pace – He is seen as one of the fastest player in the Portuguese League. His pace has been largely responsible for his ability to turn defence into attack and also to recover quickly after a foray upfront.

Better With Crosses – Last season in Portugal he recorded three assists in all competitions, the highest for a Nigerian defender playing in Europe. All of his assists were all pin point crosses, a skill he perfected owing to the fact that he played as a left winger for years before his conversion to a left full back two seasons ago.

A Threat In Set Piece – Standing at an impressive height of 1.82m , the 23 year old uses his height to good advantage with four out of the seven goals he has scored in his career coming via headers. Last season his only goal of the season was a header.

Can Play As A Left CB – Coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr has shown his desire to play with a back three but most times it’s not always efficient due to the unavailability of a left footed central defender. Zaidu played in that role in his last season at Mirandela from where he was scouted by Santa Clara.

Comfortable In Possession – If there is one area the Kebbi boy has shown his class it’s with the ball at his feet. He hardly misplace passes with his pass completion rate among one of the highest in the Portuguese first division last season.

16 year old Rennes midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu might be fast tracked into the senior national team of Nigeria by coach Gernot Rohr In a bid to beat France to his services.

Ugochukwu signed his first professional deal  with Rennes in July with the club planning to use same principle of giving talented youngsters a chance in their first team as the catalyst behind the move.

Eduardo Camavinga who recently made his debut for the senior national team of France made his Ligue 1 debut at the age of 16 playing for Rennes.

Rohr has received glowing scouting reports about the 16 year old from his contacts in France and has subsequently penciled him down for further scouting.

He sees him as a player who can be the long term replacement of Wilfred Ndidi in the Super Eagles hence he is keen on integrating him into the senior team even though he is yet to make his first team debut for Rennes.

The idea is to cap him early to forestall any competition for his international future when he becomes a star in the Ligue 1 as expected.

Osas Mahawi 

Maduka Okoye showed how much he has improved in his abilities between the sticks with a near faultless performance for Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam in their 1-2 friendly loss against Borussia Dortmund.

The German giants found the Nigerian a hard nut to crack upon his introduction for the second half and even though he later conceded twice, he showed how good a shot stopper he is at the moment.

He pulled a fantastic stop to frustrate a long range effort and he was on hand again to deny Dortmund with another brilliant finger tip save few minutes before he was beaten.

Marco Reus scored the opener but there was very little the Nigerian international can do to stop the effort as he badly exposed by his defenders . Same can be said about the second goal he conceded.

An unmarked Immanuel Pherai was given the time and space to slide home a cross in the box of Sparta for the second goal of the game leaving Okoye with no chance of making a save.

17 year old Nigerian striker Emanuel Emegha pulled a goal back for Sparta upon his introduction but it failed to spark a late comeback for the Dutch team as Dortmund hang on to claim a 2-1 win.

Osas Mahawi

Nigeria international midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo has agreed a season long loan deal to Turkish side Galatasaray according to Nigerian journalist Kelechi Nkoro.

Etebo isn’t in the plans of Stoke City as they aim to return back to the English top flight with the club making it known to the players and his representatives that he can leave either temporarily or on a permanent deal.

He spent the second half of last season on loan to La Liga side Getafe but the club didn’t take up the option of signing him permanently at the end of his loan deal.

As at the time of filing in this report , details of the loan move is still not available hence no clue on if the Turkish side have been given the option of signing him permanently at the end of the proposed loan.