Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has warned Crystal Palace bound Ebere Eze to be careful about his choice of senior national team.

Onuoha and Eze were paired in a podcast made available to the editorial team of Owngoalnigeria.com and the issue of the midfielder playing for Nigeria ahead of England where he is part of their U21 set up came up during the show .

In his early days Onuoha was invited to the senior national team of Nigeria but he turned it down to concentrate on his career with England where he was a youth international back then.

He never got to play for the senior national team and he used his experience to caution Eze who trained with the senior national team of Nigeria but turned down the chance to be a part of the senior team last year in favor of a spot in the U21 team of England.

Eze said when he came to the Nigerian training camp in London in 2017 he thought that is where he wanted to be but after playing for the England U21 team he began to think that he might have regretted playing for the senior national team of Nigeria.

That statement didn’t go down well with Onuoha who told him to be open minded and also choose his words carefully when discussing the issue of his choice of a senior national team.

From Eze’s statement it’s clear that the 22 year old sees England as his first priority and will focus on making a big impression in the English Premier League with Crystal Palace when his £14 million move becomes official in few days time.

Already has been called up to the U21 of England for their upcoming Euros U21 qualifiers against Kosovo and Austria respectively next month.

Michael James

Nantes of France forward Moses Simon says Bordeaux forward Josh Maja is good enough to the lead the line of the Super Eagles when international football resumes.

Simon was on the opposite side last weekend in the French ligue 1 game which ended in a 0-0 draw and with Maja leading the line for the host before he was substituted just before the start of the second half.

Speaking on the performance of the 21 year old former Sunderland forward Simon said he was surprised that Maja was scarified when Bordeaux were reduced to men because he was causing all sort of problems to the defence of his team.

“ He looks a very improved player from last season. I was surprised when he was substituted because he was causing us all sort of problems with his tireless running”, Simon told Owngoalnigeria.com.

According to Simon , Maja’s 45 minutes performance has no doubt put him in the frame of a call up to the senior national team as coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr watched the game.

“ That he started the game shows how well he is rated by the coach of Bordeaux. He is not new to the national team of Nigeria because he trained with us once. The decision is for Rohr to make and I guess he did his chance a whole lot of good with his performance. He can lead the line for Super Eagles in the future “.

Osas Mahawi 

Leke James has once again reached out to the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr after his latest goal which handed his team Molde a 2-1 win over NK Celje in the UEFA Champions League second round of qualifiers.

Leke struck what ended as the winner for his team in the 74th minute to seal their progress to the final round of qualifiers for the group stage of the prestigious club tournament.

Picked by Super Eagles defender Kenneth Omeruo as the player who is unfortunate not to be in the Super Eagles team , the 27 year old who has 7 goals in 12 league games this season in Norway said Omeruo knows all about what he can do for the attack of the senior national team of Nigeria.

“It’s great to hear such encouraging words from one of the most experienced current Super Eagles players. I believe he knows my qualities and sure of what I can bring into the team. It will be a great honor if I get invited to the team”, he told owngoalnigeria.com.

Ade Emmanuel 

The non inclusion of Arsenal teen star Bukayo Saka in the squad of the senior national team of England for their next set of international games sparked a lot of debate in England.

The Arsenal academy graduate impressed last season with 12 assists and four goals in all competitions despite playing in an unfamiliar position as left back in most of the games last season.

Saka wasn’t called up by coach Gareth Southgate in his 24 man list for the UEFA Nations League games against Iceland and Denmark respectively next month despite the fact that no left back was named in the list.

The omission of Saka who is eligible to represent Nigeria at international level as he qualifies through his parents has as expected led to talks of NIgeria taking advantage of it to woo the 19 year old.

Owngoalnigeria.com exclusively gathered that Saka in a chat with the technical crew of the English senior national team asked for more time before committing his international future after meeting with the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF).

” It’s about taking the right decision. He is not in the English squad base on his decision to be left out. It’s public knowledge that he met with officials of the Nigerian national team and the Federation. He want to focus on Arsenal before committing himself to any nation”, a member of his team of representatives told Owngoalnigeria.com.

Michael James 

Coach of Napoli Gennaro Gattuso has spoken out on the qualities of their record signing Victor Osimhen who resumed training with the team yesterday.

Osimhen was signed for a fee of around €80 million from French Ligue 1 side Lille making him the most expensive player in the history of the former club of Diego Maradona.

He announced himself with a bang yesterday with a goal in his first training session which was opened for fans of the club to watch. Gattuso spoke on his qualities after the session.

“Osimhen is a player who allows us to play differently. We can change our style of play with him in the side. He knows how to attack space and has a real physical presence”, Gattuso said..

Meanwhile, the Nigerian international has settled for a shirt number at the club by picking up the vacant number 7 shirt. Same number he wore at his last club Lille.

Osas Mahawi

Former Celta Vigo B goal king Emmanuel Apeh scored one of the goals for Spanish second division side Tenerife in their 3-2 win over Villarreal in a pre season game ahead of the start of a fresh season in Spain.

Apeh drew Tenerife level to cancel Villarreal’s early 1-0 lead before Jorge put them 2-1 up. Apeh was on hand to force Pau Torres into scoring an own goal that decided the game in favour of his team

Samuel Chukwueze was a second half substitute for Villarreal and he supplied a well laid pass after good work on the right for Paco Alcácer to draw Villarreal level before the game turned in the favor of the second division side.

Signed from Celta Vigo early this month, Apeh decided against continuing at the Laliga side as he wasn’t handed a chance in the main team despite his goals for the B team which made him their all time top scorer.

Born and raised in Kaduna, the dark skinned forward who trained with the Nigeria U20 team of 2015 played two Laliga games for Celta Vigo in his two years at the club.

Ade Emmanuel

Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa scored a 30 yard belter as his team Al Nassr ran out 6-1 winners over Al Adalh in the Saudi Arabia Professional League.

Musa rifled home an unstoppable drive from over 30 yards out to put his team 3-1 up in a game they ended up winning by six goals to one to keep the pressure on league leaders Al Hilal.

Already, the goal has dominated discussions in Saudi Arabia with many football lovers rating it as the best goal scored by Al Nassr this season and a sure contender for goal of the season in the Saudi Professional League

Since the return of football in Saudi Arabia, Musa has been in fine form with today’s goal his second in three games after failing to score in the games that was played before the championship was halted due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Former golden boy of Nigerian football Rabiu Ibrahim says he is not bothered about his non invitation to the senior national team of Nigeria because the coach knows what he is capable of doing if called up.

The skillful midfielder who is in the mould of former Super Eagles captain Austin Okocha said he is still at a stage where he could still be very useful to the Super Eagles if given a chance .

Speaking on the backdrop of his first league title as a professional, the 29 year old said he is playing one of the best football of his career at the moment but playing for the Super Eagles is not something he has on his mind.

” I have not retired from international football. The coach knows what I can do so it’s up to him to call me up. At this stage of my career I believe I can still be of help to the Super Eagles in the playmaker role”, he told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” Last season was very pivotal to me as we won the league but I’m not losing sleep on a call up to the Super Eagles. I have been there before maybe it’s now the turn of others to show what they can do”.

Ade Emmanuel 

Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel made an instant impression at his new club Stoke City with a goal in their 5-1 pre season win over Shrewsbury.

Mikel was handed a start and he repaid the fate of the manager by scoring the second goal which gave them a 2-1 halftime lead .

He was replaced after the break with coach Michael O’Neil keen on giving other players game time to help boost their fitness before the start of the new English Championship season.

Mikel has already said his priority is to help the team gain promotion to the English Premier League where he once upon a time played in ten and half years for Chelsea.

Signed as a free agent after his decision to terminate his contract with Turkish side over his unhappiness that the league in Turkey wasn’t suspended in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in March.

Michael James

Arsenal teen sensation Bukayo Saka sparked controversy over his international future when he hinted that he is open to the idea of switching allegiance to Nigeria from England.

The 19 year old in an interview with Sky Sports said even though he is happy to have represented England at youth level he is proud of his Nigerian heritage gotten from his parents.

” It’s a tough choice. I’m happy to have represented England at youth level but I’m also proud of my Nigerian heritage. We haven’t been picked by any team so it is about staying humble and when the time comes we’ll make the decision”, he told Sky Sports in an interview last year .

That statement appears to have triggered the next move made by NIgeria according to chief scout of the Super Eagles Tunde Adelakun who also doubles as personal assistant to coach of the Nigerian team Gernot Rohr.

In an interview with the Tuesday edition of Nigeria’s foremost daily sports newspaper Sportinglife , Adelakun explained that Saka wants to concentrate on his club career and his parents have begged for him to be left alone to decide on his choice of senior national team when he is ready.

” The boy ( Saka) wants to concentrate on his club career. He is still very young and his parents and advisers believe it is too premature for him to be faced with major decisions on international football. He is only 18 years old”, Adelakun told Segun Ogunjimi.

“We have reached him. I have made the approach and that is what I have been told . We cannot exert pressure on such a major issue unless it comes from him”.

Osas Mahawi