Fans to pay N1,000 and N3,000 to watch Eagles, Cheetahs

Tickets for Saturday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between the Super Eagles and the Cheetahs of Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo will go on sale on Friday. While the VIP tickets will go for N3,000 each, fans who opt for the regular stands will pay N1,000 each. Match ticket sale-points, according to the NFF Marketing and Sponsorship department, include Uyo Township Stadium; Government Primary School, Obio Etoi; Memories FM (Ernest Bassey Street); Comfort FM (Ikot Akpanabia); Inspiration FM (Udo Udoma) and De-Choice Shopping Plaza. Other sale-points will be designated by Thursday. Saturday’s cracker, which is a Matchday 1 encounter in the race for the finals, will kick off at 5pm.

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Osimhen sacks Agent after transfer saga

eports out of Italy state that Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen has fired his agent, Roberto Calenda, after a nightmare transfer saga saw the striker end up on loan at Turkish club Galatasaray. Osimhen, 25, rose to fame when he scored 26 goals in 32 Serie A matches in 2022-23 to lead them to an historic league title. That led to him signing a massive new contract with the club that included a €130M release clause. However, the contract and clause have since proved to be troublesome. Osimhen expressed his desire to leave the club last season. But Napoli would not let him do so without a significant transfer fee. The troubles only grew larger when the club hired manager Antonio Conte, who claimed he didn’t want Osimhen in his squad. This summer, multiple clubs expressed interest in signing the Nigerian striker. European giants Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea entered the fray, as did uber-rich Saudi club Al-Ahli. PSG ultimately opted to go in a different direction, pulling out the bidding. Al-Ahli agreed to a deal with Napoli, but could not come to terms with Osimhen, who hoped to remain in Europe. Similarly, Chelsea appeared to agree to a deal with Napoli, but wanted to significantly cut Osimhen’s weekly wages from €350K per week to around half of that. Osimhen also stated he did not want to accept a loan deal to any club, and ultimately the Chelsea negotiations broke down, leaving him stuck in Napoli. Conte doubled down on his stance and did not include the star in the team’s official league roster. With his career at a standstill, Osimhen then negotiated a loan deal (which he previously declined) to Turkish club Galatasaray, but with several conditions. Galatasary paid half of his weekly wages, while Napoli paid the other half. The loan deal also included a change in his release clause from €130M to a reported €70M. And he can cut the loan short in January if another club is interested in purchasing him. Reports out of Italy suggest Osimhen negotiated each of these terms with the help of intermediary, rather than with Calenda. “The negotiation, reports the Neapolitan newspaper, was conducted by the African striker in the first person, without the support of the historic agent Roberto Calenda. Osimhen has given up returning to Nigeria, no longer trusts anyone, he understood that staying in Naples would have been impossible and accepted the proposal,” the report claimed. It’s quite possible Osimhen finds a new club in January. But for the time being, it appears he fumbled the bag in a massive way at the most important stage of his career. And it seems he blames Calenda for the blunder.

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NFF appoints Aliyu Zubairu as Head Coach, Flying Eagles

The Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee for the appointment of Mr. Aliyu Zubairu as Head Coach of the National U20 Boys, Flying Eagles. The appointment of Zubairu, who led El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri to win the President Federation Cup at the expense of Abia Warriors FC in Lagos in June, takes immediate effect.  Zubairu’s immediate task is to put together and prepare a team for the WAFU B U20 Championship, scheduled for October/November in Togo, where the zone’s representative will emerge for next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations. 

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Morocco 2025 qualifier: Ekong, 19 others train in Uyo

Only three players are still being expected at the camp of the Super Eagles, as 20 players trained in Uyo on Tuesday evening, ahead of Saturday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic.  Captain William Ekong led from the front, arriving on Monday with the earliest birds, which included defenders Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi, and Olisa Ndah, midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and forwards Ademola Lookman and Taiwo Awoniyi. Goalkeeper Amas Obasogie and midfielder Wilfred Ndidi were in tow, and forward Victor Boniface and goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali joined in the evening. On Tuesday morning, defender Calvin Bassey and midfielders Alex Iwobi and Frank Onyeka pitched in, before defender Benjamin Tanimu (drafted in place of Bright Osayi-Samuel), midfielder Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi, and forwards Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze landed.  In the evening, just before the team bus pulled out of the hotel for training, defender Bruno Onyemaechi (of Portuguese club Boavista) and midfielder Raphael Onyedika (of Belgian side Club Brugge) arrived in camp. Forward Kelechi Iheanacho is due in camp on Wednesday while goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and forward Victor Osimhen are being expected on Thursday.  After Saturday’s encounter, the Super Eagles are scheduled to fly to Kigali on Sunday for Tuesday’s Matchday 2 clash with the Amavubi of Rwanda.

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Morocco 2025 qualifiers: Super Eagles’ camp bubbles as Iwobi, Onyeka, Bassey arrive

Fulham FC of England duo, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey have joined up with their national teammates in Uyo ahead of the Morocco 2025 qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.  Iwobi and Bassey were received on arrival by the Super Eagles’ skipper, William Troost-Ekong.  FC Augsburg of Germany defensive midfielder, Frank Onyeka also stormed the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Uyo, which puts number of players at 14.  The former African champions are expected to kick off their build up for the ties later today.  Other players in camp are; Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Boniface, Amas Obasogie, Taiwo Awoniyi, Ademola Lookman, Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi, Olisa Ndah and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. 

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Galatasaray fans welcome Osimhen

Galatasaray supporters on trouped out in large numbers to welcome their new striker, Victor Osimhen.  The Nigerian arrived Istanbul at about 3am on Tuesday to complete his loan move from Napoli, with a set of clauses. The deal was done in a matter of hours after the transfer window in most European markets closed and he had been frozen out of the Napoli squad. He was therefore allowed to leave on loan for one season for free, as long as Galatasaray covered the €10m salary. However, Fanatik report the Turkish side are actually paying €8.8m in wages. The 25-year-old Nigeria international also insisted on a break clause in January for 10 specific top clubs, while it’s reported Napoli have agreed to lower the release clause from €130m to €80m if they have not yet completed a sale by June 2025. As his current contract runs to June 2026, there will also be an automatic extension to June 2027 with the same salary. Osimhen was originally meant to arrive around 00.30 local time, but it ended up being closer to 03.30.

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Galatasaray offers Osimhen loan deal

Napoli are in talks to loan Victor Osimhen to Galatasaray, according to reports in Italy, but would have to share his wages. The striker is an outcast in Naples after deadline day negotiations with Al-Ahli and Chelsea failed to find an agreement that suited everyone. The club reiterated via director Giovanni Manna and coach Antonio Conte that Osimhen will not be reintegrated into the squad, because he was the one who originally requested an exit. The deadline has now passed in Italy and most European markets, but some transfer sessions remain open, most notably in Turkey. Sky Sport Italia and the Corriere dello Sport report that Napoli are now negotiating to loan Osimhen to Galatasaray, but would likely have to share a large part of his €10m per season salary. An alternative would be for Galatasaray to cover the wages, but not pay anything for the loan fee. The Turkish transfer window is open until September 13, so there is plenty of time to reach a full agreement and few alternatives now other than to leave the striker in the stands for six months. RMC Sport in France insist Osimhen has already accepted the move and it’s just between the clubs. Galatasaray are in need of a new centre-forward after ex-Inter hitman Mauro Icardi sustained a serious injury that will keep him out of action for at least a month.

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