Author: Chronicle Editor

Chelsea will refuse any bid from Manchester City for 27-year-old Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard – even if Pep Guardiola’s side offer to break the world record transfer fee of £200m. (Telegraph) The Blues are targeting Tottenham’s Spanish striker Fernando Llorente, 32, if they cannot sign Arsenal’s 31-year-old France striker Olivier Giroud. (Sun) Chelsea’s Brazil defender David Luiz, 30, is a potential makeweight in bringing Giroud to Stamford Bridge. (Star) Juventus are confident they will be able to sign 24-year-old Liverpool and Germany midfielder Emre Can, who is out of contract in the summer, on a free transfer. (Mail) Everton boss…

West Brom have signed Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge on loan for the rest of the season. The Baggies’ Premier League rivals Newcastle and Serie A side Inter Milan were also keen on the 28-year-old. Sturridge has scored 74 Premier League goals in 114 starts and has also netted 27 times in cup competitions, but has started only five games this season. “This is a big coup for us. He has fantastic talent,” said West Brom boss Alan Pardew. READ: David Beckham launches Miami MLS club Birmingham-born Sturridge said: “I’ve got friends here I’ve played with before. The manager…

Daniel Sturridge has passed a medical and finalised his loan move from Liverpool to West Bromwich Albion until the end of the season. Alan Pardew’s side, fresh from knocking the Reds out of the FA Cup over the weekend, will pay a fee of around £2 million as well as assume the entirety of the 28-year-old’s £120,000-a-week wages. The striker opted for the Baggies over Newcastle United, who had thought they were on the verge of signing him on Monday, and Inter. The Serie A club were the first to reach an agreement with Liverpool for the England international, but…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s deputy director, whom US President Donald Trump repeatedly accused of political bias, has resigned. Andrew McCabe was forced to step down ahead of his official retirement date in March, reports CBS News. His exit from the top law enforcement agency comes a week after a report that Mr Trump wanted him out. It was also reported last week that the president had asked Mr McCabe during an Oval Office meeting whom he voted for. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Monday’s daily press briefing: “This decision was not made by the White House.”…

The Kogi State Government has said over three hundred local and international investors have indicated their willingness to attend the first ever Kogi State Economic and Investment Summit, billed to take place in the state capital, Lokoja, next month. The Secretary of the Organising Committee and Special Adviser to the Governor on Finance and Investment, Achile Omali, stated this while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the events held to mark the second anniversary of Governor Yahaya Bello in office over the weekend. He said the government had declared the state open for business, after taking care of so…

Nearly two dozen African countries launched a single aviation market on Monday, a potential boon for the industry in a region where it is hampered by government protectionism, high taxes and stringent regulation. The Single African Air Transport Market would facilitate the free movement of flights between African countries by liberalizing frequencies, fares and capacities, breaking down barriers that have in the past increased costs. It is an updated version of the Yamoussoukro Decision that was signed in 1999 to open up intra-African aviation routes. That agreement failed and compared to other continents air travel in Africa is expensive, restricted…

Nigerian authorities have deported Cameroon separatist leader Julius Ayuk Tabe, who is president of a self-declared breakaway state made up of the Anglophone regions of majority-Francophone Cameroon. Tabe who was arrested in Abuja earlier this month has been deported by Nigerian authorities to Cameroon, his Nigerian lawyer Abdul Oroh said on Monday. His deportation marks an escalation in Cameroon’s fight against the separatists who have taken up arms over the past year in their bid to create a nation which they call Ambazonia. The Ambazonian movement has gathered widespread support due to a government crackdown on peaceful protests by Anglophones…

Former England captain David Beckham and co-owners have launched their long-planned Major League Soccer team in Miami. Beckham exercised an option in his contract with former side LA Galaxy to buy an expansion franchise in 2014. The as yet unnamed team is set to play at a 25,000-seat stadium in the city’s Overtown neighbourhood. “I’m excited to bring this great team to this great city – it has been a hell of a journey,” said former Manchester United midfielder Beckham, 42. “I promise you the team we will bring into the league will be the best team.” Miami was officially…

…Commends Lagos Gov For Providing Quality Leadership …As Ambode Tasks Council To Extend Operation To Transportation, Other Sectors Director General of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Mr. Babatunde Irukera on Monday said that the Lagos State economy has emerged as not only one of the largest sub national economies in Africa but also one of the most recognised sub national economies in the world. Irukera made the submission when he led a delegation of the CPC, top officials from the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on a…

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigerian Breweries PLC will on February 9 sign a sponsorship agreement in Lagos. Ademola Olajire, Head of Communication of NFF, said in a statement on Monday that it would be a “remarkable sponsorship agreement.” It said that NFF President Amaju Pinnick, was “excited and fulfilled” to seal the agreements with Nigerian Breweries PLC. “Nigerian Breweries is an organisation that has been a torch bearer of excellence and corporate social responsibility for the several decades it has operated in Nigeria,” the statement added. The Pamodzi Sports Marketing Company, a marketing agent for NFF confirmed that…