Category: Ade Ojeikere

Ade Ojeikere

LIONEL Messi is indeed a gem on and off the pitch. Messi’s records on the field of play tower over others, with his only rival being Cristiano Ronaldo. Little wonder the statistics off the pitch after three hours of notifying FC Barcelona that he wants to move on indicating that the midfield maestro created mass agitation and unrest in furious Catalonia. Besides, he shook the Barcelona board and forced a mass resignation of the people running the club in the last six years.

Isn’t Messi great? He surely is. Otherwise, what would we say to the fact that his submission of a letter to quit created a potential unprecedented financial crises with sponsors withdrawing from Barcelona partnership.

Records don’t lie. This dictum rings so true with what Messi’s resignation threw to the world; he shook the world to trend as the number one person on Google search. He also got two million new followers on Instagram within three hours, to break the record of Hollywood superstar Jennifer Aniston.

Again, Messi became the top discussed/searched topic on Tweeter, Instagram, Facebook and Google, just as he created a global sports concern where a lot of global sports organisations raised their voice. That includes tennis, NBA, F1, Baseball, Ice hockey, American football, Cricket, Athletics and football. What a creature Messi is? Anyway, these teasers are meant to calm nerves here while the world waits in bated breath for Messi’s next move on the chessboard in the game of wits with FC Barcelona.

Yes, the battle lines have been drawn. No going back for the parties involved. It is time to go for easily the best FC Barcelona player in the club’s history. Without any doubt, Messi is fed up with the antics of the current board. He wants them out, including the new manager Koeman, whose offence rests with dropping Messi’s best friend in the team – Luis Suarez. Don’t wake me up from this storm until it subsides.

In a business concern or activity, the least that is required from either party is to fulfil the tenets of the deal struck. This presupposes that there must be extant clauses for those who default before, during or after the contract’s duration, depending on what the arrangement states. In this case, Barcelona and Messi didn’t falter, making it imperative for one of the parties to ask for an exit. Messi has done what he interprets to be right by submitting a request at a convenient time. But the question being asked is if he followed what is enshrined in the contract, and/or if he understood what he was trying to do with his action.

Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu  played the political card by saying he could step aside from the job only if that would make Messi rescind his decision. No deal; as Messi read the deft move right, preferring to keep quiet, having dropped the bombshell last week. Messi’s silence forced La Liga to issue a statement stressing to remind the player that he needed to stick with the tenets of his contract, adding that: ”The contract is currently in force and features a release clause to be applied in the event that Lionel Andrés Messi should decide to activate the early unilateral termination of the contract, pursuant to Article 16 of the Royal Decree 1006/1985 of 26 June, which regulates the specific labour status of professional athletes.”

Indeed, the governing body submitted further: ”In line with the regulations and the procedure that apply in such instances, La Liga shall not proceed with the release required for the player to be deregistered from the Spanish Football Federation unless the aforementioned clause has been paid.”

The tendency to ask if La Liga isn’t a meddlesome interloper in the matter is pertinent since Messi isn’t in their employment, and that the supervising body ought to have kept mute until the issue was presented to them to arbitrate. A typical Nigerian response. Nigerians are experts in fishing for excuses rather than tackling the matter headlong for posterity sake. Not so in organised climes where governing bodies don’t have to wait until things have gone awry before setting the records straight for the avoidance of doubt.

With daggers drawn on both sides, what this indicates is that the issue would be decided at the courts unless one side decides to bury the hatchet and arrive at an amicable resolution. The court sessions would start when Messi moves to access justice from the internal mechanisms in the club if he still believes in them. It is the only way Messi can seek justice at the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in Lausanne. Messi needs Barca’s consent to achieve any dream of reuniting with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, which appears to be the only club with the cash to effect the transfer.

For a start, Messi is not just a player; he is easily the greatest footballer on earth. If he has to move, it has to be a record deal. In 2017, Neymar earned the world record transfer fee of 222m euro in his move to PSG from Barcelona. Even Ronaldo moved to Juventus  for 100m euro. Messi cannot move for anything less. His release clause stands at an astronomical 700m euro.  Is there really a release clause? Barca should show it to the world, except if it also has clauses which forbid such exposition.

Messi’s entourage believes he has fulfilled his contract since La Liga finished in August because of the Coronavirus pandemic as against the June deadline on his contract. Maybe the entourage understands it may not win the case in the court of law. That could explain why Messi has emphasised he doesn’t want litigation. He wants to leave on a peaceful note. That is hard to see because we are talking about the greatest footballer of all times.

Messi’s father told Mediaset that talks with Barcelona went “well”, except that there is still a chance that an agreement can be reached which allows everyone to remain in their current surroundings. Not with this Barca board that understands the implications of allowing Messi to leave without a cognate replacement, which would devalue the La Liga and de-market the team in the business spheres of the game. No wonder Barca’s board swallowed its pride and listed Messi among the players to preview their new jerseys, even in the heart of this controversy.

Barca need Messi as much as the latter does the former. What is instructive here is that football wins, not Messi or Barca. Restive fans can heave a sigh of relief believing that something may give way in the course of the new arrangement which may inform a change of heart from a visibly angry Messi.

Jorge issued the statement on Friday that appears to quote directly from his contract stating: ‘The release clause will not apply when the unilateral resolution of the contract comes into effect after the end of the 2019-20 season.’

The statement also slammed La Liga for wading in on the debate last week and claiming Barcelona were right to demand €700m from anyone who wanted to sign Barcelona’s captain.

‘We don’t know what contract they have analysed,’ it said. Also condemning their ‘obvious lack of impartiality’ in the matter.

But the statement from Messi’s father appears to have been the last shot fired before the white flag was raised.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge in the Messi brouhaha which leaves many with these critical questions – Barcelona have four captains and Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the favourite to join Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto. Will Messi want to step back into the group of leaders? Will he want to wear the armband and address his team-mates having made it clear in the last two weeks that he no longer wants to be at the club?

By Ade Ojeikere

The longest ever European football season ended on Sunday night in Lisbon, Portugal, with Bayern Munich clinching the UEFA Champions League by beating Paris Saint Germain 1-0. Kingsley Coman’s nifty header from a cross separated both sides, with the French ruing their missed opportunities during the game due largely to inexperience. Mbappe must be cursing himself for missing that sitter. You ask how many times has Mbappe seen this open chance? Mbappe showed with that missed chance that he isn’t a box-six player. Need I name several box-six players who would have converted that chance with aplomb?

Those who watched the final game expecting plenty of goals didn’t factor the experience of Thomas Tuchel, a German who shone with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Tuchel knows Bayern Munich like his palm but lost because his opponents were the most experienced, not necessarily the most talented. Missed chance come back to hunt wasteful teams. Perhaps, the first recruitment by PSG, if Tuchel remains as the manager would be to shop for a box- six player whose knack for goals is akin to what Cristiano Ronaldo exhibits with ease. The Ligue 1 champions missed the services of Edinson Cavani – the Uruguay goal poacher did not renew his contract at the club.

Cavani has even refused to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus where Andreas Pirlo now calls the shot. Why, you may ask? It’s simply because he is loyal to Napoli, where he reigned goals with the ease of a Sunday playground goal-machine. Which is better? Messi’s one club situation or Cavani’s loyalty to a club he left several years ago.

Gianluca Di Marzio told Sky Sports Italia Monday that PSG chiefs are discussing the possibility of ending their association with the German coach following the loss and hiring Massimiliano Allegri as Tuchel’s replacement.

Tuchel has been in charge of the Ligue 1 giants since 2018 and has won back-to-back league titles as well as this year’s French Cup and League Cup. The 46-year-old coach, who was at Borussia Dortmund before moving to Paris, has won 80 out of his 104 matches in charge of PSG – a win percentage of over 76 per cent. Club owners are truly wicked souls.

Tuchel sat through the last two matches writhing in pains from his leg in cast, yet the German’s tactical savvy gave Bayern Munich a lot to ponder over as the game progressed, caging Lewandoski and Muller, until Coman’s chance changed the game and its eventual result. Bayern Munich munched most teams which crossed its path this season, making PSG’s feat one to commend the coach and players not to sack them. There are lots of benefits from retaining this squad, perhaps replace those who have left and those whose form have dwindled. PSG’s management should be told clearly that the champions were the best this season, winning all its 11 games en route lifting the trophy on Sunday.

Already, Bayern Munich has recruited Sane from Manchester City, with pundits wondering how the team’s midfield would look like, going by Sane’s immense talent. Sane was awesome playing for the Citizens, making his inclusion in Bayern next season one to cherish, especially with the ease in which the Germans scored goals – don’t remind me about the 8-2 whiplash of Barcelona.

Interestingly, Sané has made it clear that his favourite position is right wing, but it wouldn’t be a problem for him to play on the left like he did most times at Manchester City.

“I usually played on the left at City, but as a youth player and at Schalke, I played on the right. My favorite position is on the right wing. I feel most comfortable there. But I have no problem with playing on the left,” Sané said in an interview with Kicker.

“Pep helped me to learn how to play on either wing. That helped me take a step forward. Many players can only play on one side.

“I learned a lot from Pep Guardiola, especially when it comes to positional play, perception of the game and attacking and defensive behaviour. He reprogrammed the way I play.”

It would be fascinating to watch Sané compete with Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman.

Hans-Dieter “Hansi” Flick, a German professional football manager and former player led Bundesliga club Bayern Munich with an unmatched 11 consecutive wins. From August 2006 to July 2014, he was the assistant coach of the German national football team under manager Joachim Löw, according to Wikipedia.

Flick’s combined experience in coaching national team players and domestic ones helped a great deal in shaping how the team played each game distinct from the others. It was Bayern Munich’s joker until the final game. Many pundits were taken aback that Flick opted for Coman on the left flank instead of Ivan Perisic.  On the hindsight, Flick could have chosen Coman because he was a faster runner. That tact counted in the final game as Coman’s goal justified his preference for that particular match.

No surprises that Bayern stuck to their traditional style of playing the ball directly at the opponent, which must have pleased the team’s management and former players, who criticised Pep Guardiola during his reign for destroying ‘their game’.  Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was unsparing about Guardiola’s tiki-taka being alien to them, one of the reasons the Spaniard dumped the German side.

World football lovers looked forward to a Bayern Munich versus Manchester City semi-finals game, which was blown away by the wasteful citizens, especially that wasted chance almost on the goal-line by Raheem Sterling much to relief of Lyon FC’s players, who though were leading could have conceded a late goal to tie the game at 2-2. Had sterling scored that goal, it could have changed the whole arithmetic of the game, more so as the resultant counter attack by the French ended the game beyond the Citizens at 3-1, with less than three minutes of the added time to play.

For Julen Lopetegui, the game of soccer has been very cruel. Just when he thought he had hit in big in international football, his dream of being a world Cup coach or should I say a world class manager, everything went up in flames, especially when he lost the Spain national team job. Lopetegui led the hitherto derelict Spanish senior team from grass to grace in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers for the European countries, securing the qualification ticket by being unbeaten in the country’s group.

Bingo, and Lopetegui’s world crumbled when it was announced that he would be Real Madrid FC’s next manager after the 2018 Mundial held in Russia. The Spanish FA chieftains were piqued that Lopetegui had the guts to accept the Los Blancos job, while still under the FA’s employment. like whirlwind Lopetegui wasblown out of the Spanish job. No prize for guessing right that the Spaniards were shambolic in Russia.

Lopetegui took the Real Madrid job after the FA sack, but it turned out a fiasco, given the team’s poor results. Lopetegui was eased out of office, only to land the Sevilla assignment, which looked like the proverbial purgatory in the holy scriptures, going the trajectory of his previous employments, which were any manager’s dream.

Barking out instructions to Sevilla in the final game against Inter Milan was Lopetegui’s last card in coaching, seemingly. He had to win the game since pundits have titled the Europa Cup  Sevilla Cup since the Spanairds had won the trophy five times before last week Friday’s finals. This writer kept his focus on Lopetegui as the game progressed. He was tensed. Don’t blame him.

With every goal scored in the five-goal thriller, Lopetegui was a pitiable bundle of nerves as he sat on the bench. Of course, the players understood their manager’s situation. They rushed to celebrate the moments when the game was in their favour. When the referee sounded the whistle to end the game, Lopetegui cried openly, unable to believe the change in his coaching fortunes. Who would blame Lopetegui? Welcome to the club of winners, worthy tactician.

By Ade Ojeikere

Walk towards any playground where soccer is being played in the country, what you would easily find are kids or young boys wearing jerseys of their favourite European football stars. The scenarios with young girls is equally exciting, with most of them kicking the ball with both legs. It is a game loved by both sexes. Who says football isn’t a spectacle to behold, even when it isn’t being played properly?

Wait a bit for the groups to congregate fully, especially the boys, what you would see would underscore how well two players have distinguished themselves with the beautiful game. You are likely to see up to 10 players either wearing Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirts or that of Lionel Messi. The difference would be that many more would be wearing Ronaldo’s shirts in all the clubs he has played. This writer once witnessed three friends wearing the Ronaldo shirts of the clubs where he played and their views on the player were informed as they knew everything about CR7. Two of them follow the Portuguese anywhere he goes. Interesting. One hopes they embrace their studies in the same way. Hmmmm!

Remember Ronaldo has played for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus. For Messi, he is a one club man, yet these kids wear different shades of FC Barcelona shirts. What stands out clearly like a sore thumb are their names at the back of such shirts. Will you blame the kids? No. Ronaldo and Messi are their role models. Forget the fact that they are Nigerian kids. A probe by this writer showed that even kids of other nationals follow this Ronaldo or Messi tradition.

In all of these scenarios, Ronaldo and indeed Messi are the match sticks that have ignited the beautiful game in over a decade. Messi’s roles for Barcelona and Juventus for Ronaldo are such when they score goals, rather that put the names of their clubs, what the media does is play on words with their names. Such amusing but inspiring headlines as Ronaldo 4-0 Napoli. Other times, you see headlines such as Messi 4-0 Villarreal. However, the ones that thrill the world are headlines where Barcelona and Real Madrid have met and both lads shone like a million stars. How about this: Messi 2-2 Ronaldo.

How else can we capture this rivalry than with the way they ended the season for their clubs? Last Friday, Ronaldo scored a brace for Juventus, only for Messi to also score another brace playing for FC Barcelona. This time they played in different leagues which underscores their importance to the two great clubs in Spain and Italy.

This writer won’t join the motley crowd of evaluating both players. One would quickly say both players are different in many ways. What informs a comparison rests with the goals which they score and how they perform as pivots of FC Barcelona and Juventus. Playing football comes to Messi naturally – like second nature. But Ronaldo is an epitome of workaholic athlete who makes up for his deficiencies with robust training regime. CR7, as he is also known, pushes himself in training. He spends time before training sessions with his colleagues, perfecting shooting and other intricate skills which elevated his performance to the world class star he is today.

Whereas we can trace Messi’s emergence to the 2005 World U-20 Youth Championship in Holland where Argentina beat Nigeria in the finals with his defy touches and wizardry on the ball, Ronaldo came out of the dusty streets in Portugal. He could have been lost in the rough life on the street but for the insistence of key Manchester United players, who, against the practice walked up to Sir Alex Ferguson, pleading that Ronaldo accompanied them back to England.

Ferguson broke his tradition and bowed to his key players’ requests and as they say the rest is history because Fergie knows how to develop players to stardom. Had Ferguson stuck to his nature of taking all the decisions on the team’s structure, possibly, Ronaldo could still have shone playing the game, but not to the level where he thrills spectators with his incredible talents and strong physical attributes. Ronaldo’s world acclaim came with playing for Manchester United, easily one of the most successful teams in Europe.

The Portuguese won his first World Footballer of the Year diadem in 2008, playing for Manchester United under the watchful eyes of Fergie who brooks no prisoners.

The Juventus star has since gone on to win five Ballon D’Or titles and currently the top scorer in the Champions League with 130 goals. A competition many have argued UEFA should christen after him because he has the most Trophies, Goals, home goals, away goals, group stage goals, quarter-final goals, semi-final goals, final goals, free-kicks, penalties, headers, braces, hat-tricks and assists. Incredible, he is just a superhuman.

For Messi, taking him out of Argentina with his troubling physical problems was an adventure only coaching academies such as renowned one aptly called La Masia in FC Barcelona. La Masia made equally talented players of yore. Messi’s future was secured by Barcelona ‘s management’s decision to treat him, if they hoped to benefit from the tremendous skills he exhibited with his medical deficiencies. Little wonder Messi laughs off suggestions that he would quit FC Barcelona. who does that? only ingrates and Messi isn’t one.

Arda Turan claims Juventus striker is only picked by some as best player ever for ‘political reasons’ as he selects former Barcelona team-mate as the greatest. Turan told beIN Sports Turkey, via Goal: ‘’Messi is present in every moment of football. He can dictate the game in every aspect. There’s nothing bad to say about Ronaldo but he’s a goal-scorer, albeit a very special one. Messi does everything in this game.

‘’He does things you can’t even imagine to do. His intelligence, his vision, his passing are all much different. And every person I have talked to about this agrees with me. Except the people who are close to Ronaldo, his team-mates, who say it’s Ronaldo as they answer politically. Ronaldo is my friend and it’s not my place to question his quality. But I think Messi is better,’’ Turan concluded. Do you agree?

Zinedine Zidane said: “Cristiano is the best. Messi is his rival and it’s the rivalry everyone wants to see. But Ronaldo is phenomenal. There are no words to describe him. He is much better than me even though I had a great career. He’s the greatest of all time.”

Jose Mourinho told beIN Sports: “I think it’s unfair to both of them when somebody [says] this one is better than the other one. I think they are just different. When you go to Messi and Ronaldo, I think it’s just unfair to compare the players. The only thing I can say is that when I had Ronaldo on my side, I was a very happy man. And when I had to play against Messi – and also against Ronaldo because I played against Ronaldo a few times – I had to think a lot to try and help my team have chances to succeed.”

Pep Guardiola said: “Messi is the best, he is definitely the best. He knows how to play, score and make the other players play. He is always there. With all the respect to all the players, first to Cristiano Ronaldo – congratulations to him for the award – I think Messi is on another level.”

But can Ronaldo and Messi play in the team? Answers to this poser are diverse, though many would want them to play. Reports Thursday suggested that Ronaldo has been placed on the transfer market including a likely or unlikely move to Barcelona. But Balague told 5 Live Sport on Ronaldo: I’m not sure if they can get rid of him easily with the kind of money he earns. Who is going to pay that kind of money?’’ ‘’He’s been offered everywhere, including Barcelona.’’

AND THIS…

MESSI vs RONALDO

Balon d’Or wins:

Messi 6, Ronaldo 5

Career goals:

Messi 634, Ronaldo 638

Career assists:

Messi 285, Ronaldo 223

Ade Ojeikere

THE European soccer inches towards the closing stages with the UEFA Champions League and Europa League fixtures to mark the end of the longest football season in Europe. No prize for guessing right that the Covid-19 pandemic is the reason for the elongated soccer season. 2019/2020 calendar is one to be forgotten quickly because winners of competitions couldn’t celebrate elaborately, like they would have wished.

The season was filled with twists and turns, especially towards the end of major leagues where new winners emerged, leaving defending champions such as Manchester City, FC Barcelona gnashing their teeth while teams such as Paris Saint Germain (PSG), Juventus, Bayern Munich, Celtic retained their titles. It was in the Barclays English Premier League that games on the last day decided those to play in the UEFA Champions League’s last two positions and Europa League slots which went to Leicester and Tottenham, where Jose Mourinho showed his managerial savvy by picking up Spurs’ early season flop for a place in Europe next season. Mourinho met Spurs in the 14 the place and took them back to Europe albeit.

Europa League isn’t Mourinho’s turf. He is the big stage manager with the right set of players. But Mourinho won the second tier European competition’s diadem coaching Manchester United. Pundits are worried over Spurs’ owner’s deep pocket and willingness to spend it aplenty. The Special One loves recruiting top players to prosecute his assignments. Playing at the final of the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League against Liverpool, opened a new vista for Tottenham and Mourinho looks like the man with the right technical savvy to make history, only if Spurs’ management can splash the cash for quality players.

The end of the season throws up an array of choices of the best players in the different leagues. The ultimate prize would be to select the best stars in the five continents of the world. The World Footballer of the Year awards have been  cancelled as result of  the Covid-19 pandemic. It is being speculated that FC Barcelona gem Lionel Messi won it with few ardent watchers of the game worried how Lewandoski fell behind Messi. The interesting part of these awards is that the process can’t be faulted. It is easy to track how the voting pattern went.

Perhaps the biggest spectacle are the mind-boggling figures in the transfer markets for various players with Inter Milan of Italy throwing up what many have described as a fantasy offer of 260 million Euros ($306m) for Messi in a four-year deal, which when broken down would see the famous Barcelona number 10 left with a net amount of €50m per annum. In fact, Inter Milan’s management knows that the Argentine’s contract expires on June 30 2021. Laughable? No. That is how such transfers start leading to the eventual change, though this writer is inclined to tag Inter Milan’s quest for Messi as the wildest fantasy.

How about this? Inter Milan’s chief executive Giuseppe Marotta dismissed the talk of the Serie A giants signing Lionel Messi as ‘fantasy football’.

“Messi on the cathedral? It wasn’t my idea,” he told Sky Sports Italia. “It reminds me of football from the past with such situations. We are talking about an icon, a great player, a desire that everyone has.”

Marotta stressed it would be ‘extraordinary to see such a champion at Inter’, before adding: “It’s fantasy football, a utopian situation.” He continued: “Our football [in Italy] needs a lift. Champions raise the value of the Italian brand and football.

“If we could consider ours to be a championship in which the great champions come and stay, it would be better. No Italian team is capable of carrying out such an operation unless extraordinary factors arise related to the shareholders, and therefore the actual owners.

“Let’s not forget that we must respect FFP [Financial Fair Play]. This year, COVID-19 has ensured that there is some flexibility, but afterwards the rules will have to be respected. Suning has already injected many millions into the company. Today investments have to give continuity and be done with a project.”

Talking about big money transfers at the end of seasons reminds this writer of Arsene Wenger who derided the emergence of Sheiks  in the ownership structure of the English game, warning that they would ruin the business with their senseless splashing of cash. Wenger’s fears was hinged on the likely dearth of new talents from the academies, if clubs start to see the recruitment of big stars to win laurels as the only way to compete favourably.

Wenger’s fears are profound, given the news on Wednesday that Pep Guardiola has gotten £300million to help improve on Manchester City’s squad, which is already overloaded to the hilt with stars. According to The Athletic, Guardiola is also interested in bringing in a £100m striker, who he has been monitoring in the last 18 months. One wonders what Cityzens’ attack would look like with the striker darting towards the goalpost with Aguero anticipating a through pass to bury the ball into the yawning net.

It is true Manchester City have not been able to replace their former captain Vincent Kompany. It accounted for the surprise losses against the lower teams last season.  Guardiola’s response before the 2020/2021 season would be the invasion of the market for top players which includes Ferran Torres from Valencia and Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, who have both joined the Cityzens, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix. I pity teams next season, if these lads join Guardiola.

The leagues are not about the players alone. Coaches play vital roles in making the game the first choice among the spectators in term of sports to embrace. they get sacked when the teams flop. The players get the accolades when the going is rosy. What a travesty. Consequently, when renowned journal adjudged Zinedine Zidane as the best coach, nobody flinched considering the parameters used in arriving at the decision. Facts are sacred and it rang so true with the evaluation of the coaches during this  fading season. Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City king of the dugout placed third.

The European game had many Africans who distinguished themselves, although three of them were top performers namely Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah, not surprisingly. The threesome shared the top scorer’s award in the 2019/2020 Barclays English Premier League with 22 goals each. But, Sane was adjudged the Africa Footballer of the Year ahead of his Liverpool teammate Salah, dethroning the Egyptian who won the award the previous season.

Obviously, Liverpool’s superlative performance in Europe the previous season leading to the team lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy, European Super Cup and the World Club Cup turned out to be the clincher for Sane. Salah did well too. Aubameyang was left on the lurch because his English side, Arsenal FC of London tottered making his 22 goals in the EPL meaningless, especially as he comes from Gabon, which isn’t really a strong African nation in football.

Last season, it was easy to give the award to Sane because Senegal finished as runners-up to the eventual winners Algeria, whereas Egypt were eliminated in the group stages though Egyptians hosted the Africa Cup of Nations. Aubameyang’s Gabon fell early too like the Egyptians. But things have changed for the Gabonese with his goals earning Gunners its 14th English FA Cup, with the darting striker wearing the iconic jersey number 14. Symbolic, isn’t it?

In fact, Aubameyang scored a brace in both the semi-final and final games, some history for the English FA Cup chroniclers. Will winning the FA Cup be enough basis for crowning Aubameyang the next Africa Footballer of the Year? Why not? Having excelled last season, Aubameyang is easily the best playing African in the European game. What makes Aubameyang worthy of the award is that he has replicated what he did in the Bundesliga playing for Borussia Dortmund.

Since he joined from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018, Aubameyang has scored 70 goals in 109 games for Arsenal.

Ade Ojeikere

VICTOR Osimhen is easily Nigeria’s biggest and costliest export to the European game. The 21-year-old rose to stardom courtesy of his remarkable performances playing for Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets and winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2015. He was voted the second best player in that year’s cadet competition, having scored the most goals wearing the country’s green-white-green jersey. He emerged the highest goal scorer of the tournament with 10 goals, beating the competition’s existing nine goals set by Frenchman Florent Sinama Pongolle.

Osimhen, by this performance, joined the league of the country’s cadet stars primed to rule the world, with good guidance and luck against career-threatening injuries.

Not many expected Osimhen to hit the top performer button for the Super Eagles though he had the talent. Indeed, his movement through a few clubs didn’t help matters but he was lucky to have gotten his groove in the game playing for Lille FC in France. It didn’t take too long for him to get rave reviews after weekly outstanding achievements, winning several Man of the Match awards and gaining the confidence and respect of his coaches, mates and fans.

Osimhen became the soul of his French side, thus attracting the attention of Nigeria’s Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr. Rohr’s decision to drop another former Golden Eaglets star Kelechi Iheanahcho wasn’t a popular one, with the manager’s critics arguing that he ought to have looked at the Leicester City FC of England’s pedigree in the game, although they agreed that Iheanacho had lost form. For the critics, Iheanacho’s experience towered above what Osimhen was doing for Lille in the French Ligue 1, considering how competitive the Barclays English Premier League is among other European leagues.

One thing our administrators know how to do best is to make proclamations at the spur of the moment hinged on nothing. They are experts in thinking after they have spoken. Whenever the country’s soccer teams win trophies, a deluge of promises and pronouncements are made. One such wild talk is the Federal Government’s decision to keep fresh winners of the cadet world Cup to nurture them to bigger glory. Need I waste space to dwell on the failures associated with government’s directives.

Today, one of such products, Osimhen, is locked in contractual controversies in a simple transfer exercise others do with pomp and ceremony. The twists and turns in Osimhen’s move to Italian giants Napoli have been very embarrassing, with each side of the divide claiming to be the best option for the Nigerian. Sadly, nothing is being heard from our soccer authorities because they were not truly involved in Osimhen’s initial movement out of the country. Statutorily, our football authorities ought to know how he left the country to play in Europe, going by the promises made to the winning contingent when they won the World Cup in 2015.

The way things are going, one won’t be surprised if the matter is taken to FIFA  for adjudication, with as many as three agents and two big clubs embroiled in who gets what from the contractual agreement. One just hopes it doesn’t degenerate to this despicable level because it could lead to the player being sanctioned or, in some cases, punished with a ban, especially with the Qatar 2022 World Cup just two years away. The first allegation levelled at Osimhen is that of greed. But the simple rule in transfers is that players go for the biggest pies. Would you blame such players? No. A players’ lifespan, barring injuries, is between 10 to 15 years, after which his market value diminishes.

If it’s true that agent A (names withheld) took Osimhen to Europe in the first instance, leading to subsequent transfers which all the parties benefitted from, and if one of the parties feels he needs to move to agent B (names withheld), it therefore behoves on the former to take it in good faith and look for avenues for settlement based on what is contained in the legal documents binding them. Like lawyers say Res ipsa loquitur.

Mudsling shouldn’t be introduced to destroy the player’s career, no matter what, since a deal, which isn’t everlasting, had been struck. The aggrieved party should look at the document and see what he is entitled to since it is the player who has broken the pact, if the stories are anything to be taken seriously. Contracts ought not to be oaths but mutual understanding among parties.

Radio Punto Nuovo, as per Football Italia during the week quoted one of the parties to have said that:”It was not clear what happened. Perhaps something fishy went down, probably between the Presidents of Lille and Napoli. They will certainly have promised him money. Lille for some reason wanted to only sell to Napoli because there’s an excellent relationship between the presidents. At the moment, my company doesn’t need to look itself in the mirror, the two clubs do.”

Pity. What was he expecting? The clubs own the player. In any transfer, negotiations start with interactions between the clubs involved. Whatever transpired surely would have arisen from a deal beneficial to all the parties. After all, it is where the player wants to play that determines the transfer. It could also mean that the clubs conspired against the agent because of his reservations in the international media over racists chants which have poured odium on the game in Italy. Poor agent. Lessons learned no doubt.

The news on Wednesday was positive about Osimhen being unveiled Friday as a Napoli player. This report is, however, subject to last minute changes. The clumsy manner in which Osimhen’s transfer has been handled underlines the fact that we learned nothing from Mikel Obi’s troublesome transfer in 2005.

Osimhen has shown that he isn’t a naive African by demanding a share of his image rights, no matter whose ox is gored. Not all things coming from Africa are cheap. Those blaming Osimhen for the delay in signing his contract should know that he becomes the most expensive player in Africa, making his photographs the biggest image the club’s fans want everywhere. Besides, Osimhen’s photographs track a lot on the internet and it is only fair that he has a chunk, not a slice, of all that comes with his images.

Need I state how much Cristiano Ronaldo earns on his Instagram page to mention just one platform? According to Forbes, Ronaldo earns nearly $1 million per paid post on Instagram and has the second-highest income from Instagram-related revenue at $23.3 million.

According to a report by Buzz Bingo, Lionel Messi was placed second on the list of highest-earning global personalities via their Instagram accounts. The 32-year-old earned €670,000 ($760,000) per Instagram post which rounds off to €26.8 million ($30.4 million) in the past year.

Football is serious business because it launches you into great opportunities. It will be a crime not to tap into the goodies. Days are gone when players celebrate passion over everything else. And getting the opportunity of increasing wealth via image right is an offer tantalisingly too good for Osimhen to miss.

The Napoli deal should be signed on his terms and not give the club too much control over his future. Because I already envisage the Serie A side slapping a buy-out clause of 200million pounds on him when (not if) he eventually signs.

Ade Ojeikere

THE countdown to the 2020/21 European season has been very intriguing in terms of transfer speculations across all the leagues, with many pundits ascribing the downward trend to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Talks on big stars have been ongoing with only Chelsea hitting the bull’s-eye with Timo Werner for £47.5 million and Hakim Ziyech for £33 million completing their moves to England on July 1. The Blues know what to do with transfers thanks to the expertise of Marina Granovskaia, the Russian-Canadian who replaced our own Michael Emenalo as director at Chelsea F.C.

The London club are odds favourites to sign Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, with the forward asking to leave his German side.  And according to German publication Bild, Havertz has had enough at the BayArena and told the Bundesliga side of his desire to seek pastures new. But Chelsea will have to match his £90m buyout clause if they wish to prize him away. The west London outfit are willing to pay that fee but in instalments. Obviously not like Arsenal is currently doing with Nicolas Pepe whom they snatched from Lille last summer.

This Havertz transfer would come with all the trappings of the movement of big players with other top teams trying to hijack the forward. Yet, there won’t be anything to celebrate with Havertz’ move since he has chosen his career path, which interestingly is Chelsea despite Real Madrid being in the picture. The Blues look like big contenders for the EPL title next season having been funded by their proprietor, Roman Abramovich. Not to forget that Chelsea were handicapped in the transfer window business following the UEFA ban on the team for certain rules infractions. New dawn for Chelsea. Watch out for the Blues.

The usual star treks involving celebrities such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cavani, Antoine Griezmann, Thiago Alcantara, Jack Grealish, Moussa Dembele, Hector Bellerin, Paul Pogba, Eduardo Camavinga, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman, Emerson Royal, André Schürrle and possibly Neymar have been fraught with denials, although agency reports Sunday suggested that Neymar has succeeded in pulling out of Paris Saint Germain (PSG) to rejoin FC Barcleona.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has sneezed at Neymar’s likely return to Nou Camp pointing out that: “Such an operation is unlikely because the situation of all the clubs in Europe is very difficult.” Well said, Bartomeu, obviously referring to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, although Neymar’s movement to Barca has become a major distraction – it is either both parties are in and out of court or enjoying rave discussions in the media of a protracted transfer since the Brazilian left Nou Camp.

Just like Pep Guardiola shut down talks of a possible return for Jadon Sancho to Manchester City with Manchester United unwilling to meet the price-tag set by Borussia Dortmund.

Guardiola said: “No, no, no. He decided to leave. Why should he decide to come back? “We wanted him to stay like Eric Garcia and Phil (Foden) but he decided like Leroy now and myself, when I decided to move to other countries to be a manager, to move.

“When he decided to move to Dortmund it’s not because he is going to decide to come back one year later. It would make no sense. He didn’t want to be here, so that is why I think he doesn’t want to come back here.”

Kylian Mbappe isn’t staying on with PSG, probably because of their lack of ambition. He has stopped further discussions with the French side on a new contract leaving the door ajar for big spending clubs such as Real Madrid. Mbappé is joint-top scorer of the French Ligue 1 and is one of the new boys Zinedine Zidane would love to recruit to rev the Spanish side’s attacking onslaughts next season. Neymar and Mbappe remain with Paris Saint Germain (PSG), with Messi and Ronaldo staying at Barcelona and Juventus.

Africans have had their fair share of the transfer window with no words on a likely exit from Liverpool for the two of the continent’s best Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. Mane has been mentioned in several deals, most on a swap deal which is rather insulting given his achievements in the last three seasons. Mane has scored 16 goals while Salah has netted 19, with four games left for either of them to upstage Leicester City’s striker Jamie Vardy, who has scored 22 goals, which the figure that tied the trio of Salah, Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang as last season’s (2018/2019) joint highest goals scorers in the Barclays English Premier League.

Aubamenyang, a Gabonese has shown remarkable understanding of how he has scored goals for Arsenal, having joined the Gunners from Borussia Dortmund. He scored 22 goals last season and has so far scored 20, raising his chances of winning the Barclays English Premier League’s Golden Boot alone unlike last season when he shared it with Mane and Salah.

The most interesting African transfer, if it happens would be Kalidou Koulibaly’s, given his  £100m price-tag which would be a mountain to climb for Liverpool, Paris Saint German, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Manchester clubs, eager to secure the Senegalese in their fold.

The extension of Odion Ighalo’s stay at Manchester United was worth all the trouble. After protracted discussions with Shanghai Shenhua, United agreed a loan extension of the deal, which does not include an option or obligation to buy, will keep him at the club until January 31, 2021 and the 30-year-old was overjoyed to stay. Ighalo agreed to a hefty 40% cut on his £300,000 weekly wages at Shanghai Shenhua, excluding his weekly £180,000-per-week take home.

For Simon Moses, these are good times after being dropped due to injury from the Nigerian side to the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. Simon Moses was pivotal in the Super Eagles’ qualification for the Mundial. Last ditch attempts to get Simon Moses in the World Cup train failed. But at the club level, he can smile to the bank weekly with a bountiful harvest. Simon Moses signed a four-year deal from Levante to Nantes due to his impressive performances in Christian Gourcuff’s team after he was named the Canary player of the Season for the 2019-20 campaign. He joined the Canaries on a temporary deal from Levante last summer after struggling to make an impact in La Liga last season.

Nigerians such as Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheancho and Samuel Chukwueze have been mentioned in transfer stories for the 2020/2021 season, especially the figures attached to such deals. But it appears that nothing concrete would come out from these speculations as the players are ready to remain where they are for fear of being dropped, if they take the plunge by joining a new club. Many former European players have urged Manchester United to sign Ndidi, stressing that the Nigerian would fix the wobbly midfield set up at the Red Devils. It would be the biggest transfer shocker if any of the three players changes his club. Which clubs want them?

However, the only Nigerian likely to make a big European move in the summer is Victor Osimhen. Already, he has shown tremendous understanding of the transfer gimmicks when he politely rejected Italian giant Napoli FC of Naples, made popular by the iconic Diego Armando Maradona. Osimhen’s reservations towards playing in Italy are known to lovers of the beautiful game as it concerns the untoward attitude of racists during matches. These vexatious acts have attracted worldwide condemnation making Osimhen’s decision one to be celebrated for the good of the game.

Footballers have a right to eke a living for themselves under a conducive environment not humiliated because of the colour of their skins. Osimhen’s agents may quarrel with him for raising their hopes with his flowery comments about what he saw in Naples. Osimhen’s decision not to play in Italy is timely and should serve as a marker for change.

Already, Osimhen has given indications about the kind of club he wants to play for. He has told those who care to listen that he wants to dance on the podium for the next winner of the UEFA Champions League diadem. Tall order, but one to dream about. high profile clubs want his services. it would be foolhardy to dissuade Osimhen from aiming high since he has the skills to compete favourably for shirt weekly, provided the manager of such a club would be fair with his match selections.

It is always a pleasant exercise to report Nigerians doing well for their Europeans teams at the UEFA Champions League level. It is always more edifying watching a Nigerian or even Nigerians dance with their winning sides on the podium receiving the Champions League trophy with the competition’s medal glittering around their necks.