Author: David Great

England striker Ivan Toney, 27, is hopeful of a move to Arsenal in January but the Gunners have no intention of paying the £100m asking price Brentford have set. (Football Transfers)  However, any move for Toney in January would be very unlikely for Arsenal because of the Premier League rules around signing players on loan. (Football London)  Manchester United and England winger Jadon Sancho, 23, is keen on a return to Borussia Dortmund, as he considers this the ideal option to regain his best form. (Fabrizio Romano)  Tottenham are unlikely to make a move for England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 23, in January because they are unable to meet Chelsea’s £60m demands because of financial…

The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, on Tuesday paid a condolence visit to the Jericho Ibadan residence of late Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. Obi, who visited Mr Akeredolu’s family alongside a well-known professor of economics, Pat Utomi, said he was in Ibadan to commiserate with the bereaved wife, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire family. He described the late governor as a principled leader, patriotic Nigerian and dogged fighter. He said Akeredolu, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was passionate about building a better and more productive Nigeria. “He was a forthright person…

The Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) says it has begun mobilising Nigerian residents in Cote D’Ivoire to storm Abidjan to cheer the Super Eagles to victory in the 2023 AFCON. Bright Urenyere, chairman of the NFSC mobilisation committee, Cote D’Ivoire chapter, said this in an interview. The 24-nation continental spectacle will kick off from January 13 to February 11 in six stadiums across five cities in Cote D’Ivoire. Urenyere noted that the Cote D’Ivoire chapter of the NFSC, established over three decades ago, remained the only registered supporters club on the ground mobilising local support for the Super Eagles. He…

Liverpool and Real Madrid want Paris St-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe, who is out of contract at the end of the season. The 25-year-old France international is free to sign for another club this month. (Le Parisian) Madrid are favourites to sign Mbappe who nearly signed him last summer. Paris St-Germain are the leading contenders to sign England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, 27, from Manchester City this month. (Telegraph) Manchester United and Liverpool head the queue of clubs who want 28-year-old Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich when his Bayern Munich contract runs out at the end of the season. (AS) Liverpool and Tottenham are weighing up summer moves for Wolves’s 27-year-old South Korea forward Hwang Hee-Chan. (Football Insider) Tottenham are pushing to complete the…

President Bola Tinubu says part of the recently signed N28.7 trillion 2024 budget component is N100 billion allocated for school feeding programmes. Tinubu made this statement on Monday while signing the 2024 appropriation bill into law in the State House in Abuja. According to the president, the provision would act as an incentive to increase school attendance and lessen the problem of out-of-school children. “One of the priority areas of the bill we just passed is the N100 billion provision for feeding schoolchildren. I believe that is a stimulant that will encourage enrollment and address malnutrition among schoolchildren. “I will…

Russia on Tuesday rained missiles on the Ukrainian capital and other cities killing one person and injuring dozens, with downed rockets hitting high-rise buildings and sparking fires. More than a dozen loud explosions were heard in Kyiv by AFP journalists on Tuesday morning as air defences worked, shaking buildings in the city centre. In the eastern city of Kharkiv, one person was killed and more than 20 injured by “at least four strikes” that damaged multi-storey buildings and civilian infrastructure in the centre, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said. The Ukrainian air force said Russia was…

By Owei Lakemfa The year 2023 held a lot of hope for Nigerians as the Buhari administration which had put the country on autopilot, was programmed to end its tenure by mid-year. Indeed, the past year had begun as a traumatic one with a currency change which impoverished the people as they could not readily access their bank accounts or money. The naira, rather than being a means of exchange became a commodity traded in the streets. The local currency was so scarce that people paid as high as 15-20 per cent as commission for naira notes. Unfortunately, in the…

President Bola Tinubu has signed the N28.7 trillion 2024 Budget into law. Tinubu signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill on Monday at a short ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, were among those present as he signed. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Atiku Abubakar, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; and Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (NSA), were also present. The President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, was also there, as was the National Chairman…

Manchester United have decided against activating the option to extend Raphael Varane’s contract by a further 12 months, meaning the 30-year-old France defender can hold talks with overseas clubs over a summer free transfer move from 1 January. (Mail) Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said Harry Maguire kept Varane out of the starting XI. Leicester want to sign Liverpool winger Fabio Carvalho on loan after the 21-year-old Portugal Under-21 international was recalled from his loan spell at RB Leipzig. (Sky Sports) Liverpool have sent scouts to watch Crystal Palace’s England-born former France Under-21 winger Michael Olise, 22, in recent weeks. (Football Insider) Tottenham’s Senegal midfielder Pape Matar Sarr,…

President Bola Tinubu addressed Nigerians in a New Year broadcast on Monday, defending his actions as President, outlining steps taken to improve the economy, reeling out his plans for the country, and calling on Nigerians to play their part in the nation’s growth, among other things. Read the full text of President Tinubu’s broadcast below: Dear Compatriots, It gives me immense joy to welcome each and every one of you – young and old- to this brand new year 2024. We must lift up our hands to Almighty God, in gratitude, for his grace and benevolence to our country and…