Term
Manchester City legend Kun Aguero to play backup role at Barcelona
Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero will play a backup role at Barcelona next term. The striker spent 11 trophy-laden years in Manchester, winning the Premier League five times and the FA Cup once. He is fourth in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 184 strikes in 275 appearances. The ‘perfect’ combined England and Italy Euro 2020 XI Despite his incredible record, Barca have warned Aguero that he could spend a significant amount of time on the bench next season. That’s according to Spanish outlet AS (via Daily Mail), who claim that the Argentinian has already accepted the role. Barca are worried about Aguero’s fitness after he was limited to 12 top flight appearances in 2020/21. He suffered with a knee injury at the start of the campaign, a hamstring problem in November an...
Arsenal launch transfer bid for Lyon star Houssem Aouar
Arsenal have reportedly made an offer to Ligue 1 outfit Lyon for midfielder Houssem Aouar following a drop in the asking price for the player. According to Le 10 Sport, Aouar could cost the Gunners under a third of the £54 million fee club officials hoped to get in 2020. The 23-year-old had been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates before the start of the 2020-21 season. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is thought to be keen on the versatile attacker who can play centrally or on the wing. In September reports in France claimed Lyon had turned their noses up at two separate bids from the North London giants of £31m and £34.5m. However, Le 10 Sport says the Gunners have returned with a fresh offer for the midfielder whose current contract with the French outfit runs out in 2023. And it is tho...
Lagos traders send SOS to police, governor over planned market raid
Traders, shop owners and stakeholders operating under the aegis of Balogun Business Association (BBA) in Lagos have raised the alarm over a rumoured threat to raid their market by thugs loyal to a former chairman of the association. The aggrieved traders who addressed reporters yesterday at the Association Secretariat at the popular Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, Badagry Expressway, Ojo, alleged that credible intelligence at their disposal indicates that the planned invasion of their peaceful market would take place between Sunday, June 27 and Wednesday, July 28. Warning of imminent bloodshed of innocent traders should the alleged invasion happen, the Principal Stakeholders, recalling that similar attacks by the same person in the years 2005 and 2007 had led to the loss of lives, ...
President Buhari appoints PPPRA board chairman, chief
President Muhammadu Buhari, at the weekend, approved the appointment of a Chairman, and an Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer for the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). The Board Chairman is Mr Atuonwo A. Obinna, while the Executive Secretary and CEO is Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, whose appointment was renewed for another four years. According to the Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, the appointment of Mr Atuonwo Obinna as Chairman Governing Board for a four-year term is in accordance with Section 2 (1-3) and 3 (a) of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (Establishment, ETC) Act 2003. Also, the renewed appointment of the CEO brings tranquility to PPPRA as anxious staff and stakeholders wondered why suspense pervaded the agency since Saidu’s first tenure e...
FAO reiterates support to Nigerian government’s efforts to tackle food insecurity
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reiterated its commitment to support the Federal Government‘s efforts to ensure food sufficiency. FAO Country Representative, Fred Kafeero, said this at the 44th meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) in Abuja on Thursday. He said that the theme of the meeting, which is “Nigeria’s Agriculture and Food Security in the face of COVID-19, Floods and Insecurity, ” was timely. Kafeero, however, said that the theme was a call for action to cushion the knock-on effects of these shocks and threats on the livelihoods of a large section of the population, especially vulnerable groups. He urged the government to provide enabling environment for private participation, creating synergy, engaging other sectors, interven...
Manchester United identify Alexander Isak as Erling Braut Haaland alternative
Manchester United have identified Alexander Isak as an alternative target to Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland this summer, The Star reports. The Red Devils recently committed Edinson Cavani to a new contract, but they are still searching for a quality young striker to add to their ranks. They have been heavily linked with Dortmund, but a deal appears unlikely with the Bundesliga outfit having no plans to sanction his sale. Haaland has a release clause worth £68 million in his contract, but that does not become active until the end of the 2021/22 campaign. It is now reported that the club have a ‘Plan B’, and could look to swoop for the services of Isak, who is currently contracted with Real Sociedad. Isak had another promising season with Sociedad last term, registering 17 goals an...
Cristiano Ronaldo is unconcerned over Juventus future
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo insists his sole focus is on Euro 2020 and reports of interest from rival clubs are causing him no “sleepless nights”. Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juve in 2019, but the move has not worked out quite as planned. Although the Bianconeri won the Serie A title for a ninth successive season in the forward’s first campaign, they lost their crown to Inter this term and scraped Champions League qualification. Success in Europe’s premier club competition, which Ronaldo won five times with Manchester United and Madrid, continues to evade the Turin giants. A frustrating season ended with Massimiliano Allegri returning to replace Andrea Pirlo, and there has been speculation Ronaldo could follow his coach out of the door. Madrid, United and Paris Saint-Germain have...
Cristiano Ronaldo is unconcerned over Juventus future
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo insists his sole focus is on Euro 2020 and reports of interest from rival clubs are causing him no “sleepless nights”. Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juve in 2019, but the move has not worked out quite as planned. Although the Bianconeri won the Serie A title for a ninth successive season in the forward’s first campaign, they lost their crown to Inter this term and scraped Champions League qualification. Success in Europe’s premier club competition, which Ronaldo won five times with Manchester United and Madrid, continues to evade the Turin giants. A frustrating season ended with Massimiliano Allegri returning to replace Andrea Pirlo, and there has been speculation Ronaldo could follow his coach out of the door. Madrid, United and Paris Saint-Germain have...
Zambian court throws out second challenge to president’s re-election bid
Zambia’s Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that President Edgar Lungu can stand for re-election in August, throwing out a second opposition challenge to his eligibility on the basis of the constitutional two-term limit. The ruling comes as Zambia faces a multipronged economic crisis, after overleveraging its debt right before the brutal global COVID-19 shutdown. The crisis has triggered Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default and driven the southern African country to seek emergency IMF help. Lungu’s first term in office lasted a year and six months, when he took over after the death of the previous elected president, Michael Sata. He then won an election in a disputed vote in August 2016. Since this is technically his second term, the opposition had argued that he is no longer el...
Turkish side Trabzonspor in love with Ademola Lookman
Trabzonspor are interested in adding Nigerian wing wizard, Ademola Lookman, to their playing personnel and have registered their interest with the player’s parent club RB Leipzig, says Turkish publications Fotomac. Lookman is not short of suitors after impressing last term during a loan spell in the Premier League with Fulham. The former Everton ace scored four goals and added another four assists in 34 matches for the Cottagers. It was not enough, though, to help the London-based side avoid relegation to the Championship just a year after celebrating a long-overdue promotion. Fulham paid €2 million to Leipzig last summer before they could get the Super Eagles hopeful, and Trabzonspor may need to cough up an equivalent sum to acquire the services of the 23-year-old. A couple of years ago, ...
Manchester United preparing £39 million bid for Atalanta defender
Manchester United are set to bid £39million for Atalanta defender Cristian Romero. Atalanta are reportedly planning to make Romero’s loan from Juventus permanent for £21.5m before cashing in on his services. But according to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Atalanta will take up an option in the 23-year-old’s loan deal to sign him permanently. The fee is believed to be £21.5m – but some rumours suggest it could be as low as £13.75m. Reports claim the Serie A side will then look to sell Romero for €45m – around £39m – and make a huge profit. And Man United are said to be leading the race for the Argentina international’s signature. Romero has been one of Atalanta’s best players this term, making 31 Serie A appearances to help them finish third and qualify for next season’s Champio...
LAUTECH: Oyo governor announces 25% reduction in tuition fee of students
Osun Defender Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, yesterday, announced 25 percent reduction in the tuition fee of students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso. The governor made the promise, while meeting with students of the institution on Tuesday, during his visit to the town to commission the school’s teaching hospital’s High Dependency Unit. He also promised to regularise the school’s academic calendar in a way that fout-year course offered by students would not be extended to eight-year term as a result of strike. The governor maintained that the reduction would cut across the board, adding that he made the move despite the fact that the LAUTECH fee is still the lowest in the entire Southwest. He stressed that he has fulfilled his electioneering campaign, ...
