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
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
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
It has been nearly 18 months since Victor Moses announced his retirement from international football, but now, after a failed spell in Turkey, a rumoured return to England, and parent club Chelsea, could spark his career back to life. The retirement news came as a shock to football fans, and there were many who believed,
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
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
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
As time wound down in Leicester City’s second league game of the new Premier League season, a 1-1 draw with Frank Lampard’s regenerating Chelsea, the camera panned to the Foxes bench, catching Kelechi Iheanacho with a forlorn gaze plastered across his visage. For the second match in a row, the Nigerian sat for 90 minutes
It took Victor Osimhen all of 19 minutes to not only announce his arrival to Ligue 1, but to throw down the gauntlet to any and all competitors for the Nigeria number 9 jersey. And what a way to make that announcement for the new Lille man, who bagged a brace against FC Nantes in
BARCELONA, Spain — When Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala was a young girl growing up in Nigeria, her mum wouldn’t give her money for food if she had been playing football on the streets with the boys. You can imagine, then, how she reacted when, at the age of 15, she found out her daughter
Frank Lampard’s Derby County secured a playoff semifinal against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United with a 2-1 win over West Brom, pipping Middlesbrough to sixth place. John Obi Mikel is closing in on a return to the Premier League with a source telling ESPN FC that the former Chelsea star is considering multiple offers from around
With the football season winding down, and the Africa Cup of Nations barely two months away, Nigerian players have been making performance statements all over Europe and beyond. Freshly minted Super Eagles forward Paul Onuachu was the pick of the bunch in a month of fine offensive and defensive displays. 1. Paul Onuachu (FC Midtjylland)