Rob Dawson believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would like to keep Odion Ighalo beyond his current loan deal. Gab Marcotti explains Odion Ighalo’s contract situation at Manchester United. Kay Murray and Mark Odgen look back on Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League final win vs. Bayern Munich. Shanghai Shenhua have softened their stance on extending Odion Ighalo‘s
Nigeria
Liverpool loanee Ovie Ejaria has committed his international future to Nigeria, the nation’s football federation (NFF) has told ESPN. “Yes, he has agreed to play for Nigeria,” NFF president Amaju Pinnick told ESPN. “His documents have been sent to FIFA since.” Ejaria, 22, was born in England to Nigerian parents, and he trained with the Nigeria
Shanghai Shenhua striker Odion Ighalo almost failed to get his dream transfer to Manchester United on the Jan. 31 deadline day – a few minutes later, and he could have been at a rival Premier League club instead — but once things started to move, they did so at lightning pace. A frenetic night of talks spanning Norway,
Such is the state of Nigerian football at the moment that even something as benign as the draw ceremony for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, held in Egypt on Tuesday evening, came fraught with controversy. Gernot Rohr, who coaches the Nigeria Super Eagles team and has been at every other draw ceremony since taking the
The 40 African nations still standing in the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup learned the identities of their group stage opponents during a star-studded event at The Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo on Tuesday, but not everyone will be happy with their lot. Teams were drawn into 10 groups of four teams, with the
At the end of the 2020 January transfer window, there had been around 40 moves involving players of Nigerian origin around the world. It’s unlikely anyone will be surprised by that number, because it is a well-known fact that the country is the biggest producer of football talent in Africa, and certainly one of the top 10
With the English Premier League’s mid-season transfer window now in full swing, Ed Dove recalls the best and worst January deals involving African players. Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United to Crystal Palace) We begin with Zaha, who’s one of several high-profile African players tipped for a big move during the current January window. Back in 2015,
African players are regularly central to the key narratives of a transfer window, and January 2020 ought to be no different. Already, Henry Onyekuru and Badou N’Diaye have secured moves — signing for Galatasaray and Trabzonspor on loan respectively — and we can expect the continent’s top stars to populate the rumour mill, and the
Lebo Mothiba ended his five-and-a-half-month wait for a goal by scoring twice in Strasbourg’s Ligue 1 victory over Nimes last weekend, while both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane starred as Liverpool defeated Manchester City in a potentially decisive clash at the top of the English Premier League. South Africa’s Mothiba hadn’t scored since May when
As rivalries go, the Old Firm Derby is one of the biggest in the world, but it’s not one that Nigerian fans have paid much attention to… until now. Glasgow Rangers will take on bitter rivals Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday, and Joe Aribo, a recent Super Eagles call-up, will don the blue kit in
ESPN FC’s Alejandro Moreno joins Ross Dyer to react to Chelsea’s thumping 5-2 win at Wolves which included a hat trick from Tammy Abraham. Brian McBride feels Mason Mount’s time with Frank Lampard at Derby has given him an early advantage over Christian Pulisic. Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount speaks to the media ahead of England’s