It is the third day of a new year. It is a season of resolutions in which many people wish away spells and look to God for a new direction. January is the period where plans are made with the firm belief that a greater part of the wish list is achieved.
This New Year will usher in good tidings for all the readers of this column. The Lord will answer those wishes that are worthy in his eyes because we know that even before we kneel down before God, asking for anything. He already knows those things that we truly need. May the good Lord bless us all this year.
Most times when some of our ex-internationals complain about how they are being treated in the twilight of their careers, I wonder if they have bothered to ask themselves what they did with their fortunes. They blame everyone but themselves, forgetting that when the going was good, they splashed good cash on vanities such as cars, shoes, necklaces and bracelets, to mention but a few of their frivolities.
In their opulence, not a few of our stars thought of engaging financial experts who could plan their future for them. Our stars likened the quantum cash to a broken oil pipe from an endless ocean. They apparently thought the cash would flow till eternity. I wish they asked what became of their predecessors.
Those who ten years ago flew in jets across the country for owambes are struggling to rebuild their future, pursuing national team jobs. Indeed, in one of my trips to Uyo in November, many people inside the aircraft couldn’t fathom the loss in weight of some of our big stars who stopped playing in the year 2000. Many inside the aircraft couldn’t reconcile the difficulty in seeing those stars in the past and now. A few argued about their identities.
They had emaciated. No bouncers around them anymore. They walked up to greet you now, not the other way round. Things have truly changed. The jets are grounded. Many who had major cities named after them are loafing and holding on to anything to show that they played the game. Many of them in their heydays moved around at breakneck speed in convoys of the best cars. Now, they sneak into smoky jalopies, hiding their identities by wearing big hats.
When will our stars start to plan for their future? When will our big boys enjoy the kind of rave reviews that megastars, such as David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi et al, get from the media in terms of their emoluments? We are tired of the rag-to-riches and then riches-to-penury of our players who earned hefty figures playing the beautiful game in some of the countries where some of these megastars played. This writer is surprised at the penury in which some of these former stars live. They appear to have forgotten where they were discovered. They were street-wise kids, whose absence from their homes brought relief to the family since they would cater for less the number, as a means of punishment to them.
I cringed when I saw another Nigerian feeling cool inside a 2015 Roll Royce car worth £250,000 (N46.2 million). What struck me was how much he was worth to make such a purchase? I reckoned that he didn’t know what to use such cash for? I wish I could tell my readers his background to find out if such hefty cash wouldn’t have been better spent. Our stars have a right to satisfy their fantasies but they must remember that the life span of an athlete is short, making it imperative for them to keep much of their windfall for the future. Some of our past stars are inscrutable in their appearance when you see them now. You can tell that they have lost it all.
This is a clarion call to the so called Nigerian Players Welfare Union to contact some of them who are likely to go astray to look back at others before them and do the needful. If any player has so much cash to handle, he can seek advice from his banker. He could also reach out to the players union to help assist others who are bedridden and need to get back on their feet.
What will it cost our players to return to the grassroots to rejuvenate the playing grounds that produced them. They could also provide the cash to encourage the kids in the hinterland to play the game, using them as role models instead of this lascivious life style.
January European transfer window
In Europe, this is the period where clubs rush to the transfer market to fortify their stock of players. These clubs go for players that they know will make immediate impact in their teams, having languished in relegation since the season began in August, last year.
Most of the European club managers will be sending their scouts to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to watch the matches of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Sadly, Nigeria, winners of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, will not be in Equatorial Guinea.
When the matches begin, it will dawn on our players and coaches the level of grief that they have brought to soccer fans in Nigeria. They would have lost the opportunity to affirm their supremacy in the continent. As for the players, they would understand why every game should be taken seriously, especially when new players from the continent use the games of the Africa Cup of Nations to get lucrative contracts.
When the window opens, one expects that Nigerian stars in Europe who have been confined to the bench should walk up to their managers, seeking to move on to other clubs, if the opportunity beckons. It must be said that the biggest reason why Nigeria isn’t at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations is because our Europe-based stars spent the period before these matches on the bench in the European clubs. This match rustiness greatly inhibited the Eagles’ performance, with the coaches having few options to pick players from.
The media have been awash with the interesting story of CSKA Moscow’s Nigerian import Ahmed Musa going to Tottenham Hotspurs this month. CSKA is a very good club in Moscow. The club is a regular feature in the UEFA Champions League. Musa must consider the fact that he plays regularly for CSKA, hence it will be tragic if he rushes to Tottenham and ends up sitting on the bench or watching the game from the stands.
Playing for Tottenham offers Musa the best platform to show his talents because of the tremendous media coverage of the Barclays English Premier League. But Musa must understand that if he takes the leap into Tottenham, he loses value in the transfer market if he is dumped on the bench. And with the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations and Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers set to begin by the middle of the year, one would plead with Musa to opt for the club where he would be first choice in his position.
Another player in the transfer radar of European clubs is Oguenyi Onazi. Onazi plays for Lazio FC in the Italia Serie A. He is on the wanted list of Liverpool FC. In fact, the media splashed the story of a swap deal between Liverpool and Lazio with Onazi and Boronini walking in different directions.
Onazi’s purported move to Anfield is to understudy Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, who many pundits believe should be given less games to play next year. It looks like a proactive idea but my fear is that what happens if Gerrard continues to churn out top performances for Liverpool? My candid advice to Onazi is to remain at Lazio to fight for his shirt.
Thank God John Mikel Obi is back to reckoning with Chelsea. Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho knows that Mikel can play alongside Matic instead of the earlier option where Mourinho played Matic ahead of Mikel. I wish Mourinho realised this arrangement earlier in the season. Mikel would have influenced Nigeria’s AFCON campaign better than he did because he wasn’t playing regularly for Chelsea.
Emmanuel Emenike has resolved to remain at Fenerbahce FC of Turkey instead of running to England to play for Tottenham or Chelsea. And it is the best decision. My candid advice to Emenike is that he cannot find a shirt in present day Chelsea side. Chelsea attackers have struck a ruthless chemistry playing together, culminating in their awesome goal-scoring record in the team’s matches this season.
Home-based Eagles’ transfers
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Melvin Amaju Pinnick must today call for the files of the movement of our domestic league players to Europe. This idea of a particular agent doing the business of the transfer of our local stars is unacceptable.
Such an agent has a right to do the business of transfers for our local boys. But when he takes charge of all movements, it is worrisome. Most of the local boys sign for one of these agents because he fronts for most of our national team coaches. His offer isn’t the best. But the players must join his camp if they hope to play for Nigeria.
Amaju must be told that transfer of players isn’t the exclusive prerogative of a particular agent. He must work in tandem with the NFF, especially national team players discovered here. NFF should help guide these new discoveries in the national teams, such as Super Eagles.
It is ridiculous for a Super Eagles player to undergo screening in novelty leagues outside the country. Our league may not be paying the best wages but our players in the Eagles can get better deals playing against bigger teams in the country’s international friendlies at their own terms rather than kowtowing to the whims and caprices of greedy agents working with our national team coaches.
This slavish movement of our best local players into obscure leagues in the Diaspora explains why there isn’t any transition from one national team to the other. Amaju, please this trend where one agent takes charge of all our discoveries is wrong. It is foolhardy for a Super Eagles player to undergo screening in Belgrade, for instance.