Author: David Great

Chelsea have re-appointed Frank Lampard as the caretaker manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Graham Potter, the Premier League club said in a statement. The Chelsea legend and club-record goal scorer was sacked in January 2021 after spending 19 months as manager at Stamford Bridge. “We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club. As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear…

Chelsea are considering holding talks with former boss Antonio Conte over the vacant manager’s role. The Italian won the Premier League for the Blues. (Independent) Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso has emerged as a contender for the Chelsea job following Graham Potter’s sacking. (Guardian) Leicester are set to demand about £50m for 26-year-old England midfielder James Maddison, with Tottenham favourites to sign him.(Telegraph – subscription) Tottenham are interested in Atletico Madrid’s 28-year-old Argentina midfielder Rodrigo de Paul. (Inter Live – in Italian) Inter Miami are willing to offer Paris St-Germain’s Argentina forward Lionel Messi, 35, an equity stake in the club to convince him to join this summer. (Independent) Arsenal have opened talks with Leicester’s 25-year-old Belgium midfielder Youri…

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and his Gombe counterpart, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, paid a visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa following their re-election on March 18. The All Progressives Congress (APC) governors also presented their Certificate of Return to the Vice President. The two governors who recently visited Prof. Osinbajo expressed their gratitude to the Vice President for his unwavering support for them and the party. Prof. Osinbajo voted in Ikenne, Ogun state during the presidential and governorship elections delivering his State on both occasions for APC. It would be recalled that the Vice President…

Karim Benzema scored a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid routed Barcelona to reach the Copa del Rey final. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Madrid levelled the tie through Vinicius Jr in first-half stoppage time. Benzema added two goals early in the second half – the second from the penalty spot – to put the visitors in control and completed his hat-trick to seal the win in the 80th minute. Carlo Ancelotti’s side will face Osasuna in the final on 6 May. Barcelona had the better of a feisty first half at the Nou Camp, but their best chance led…

Marcus Rashford scored the only goal with a brilliant half-volley as Manchester United beat Brentford 1-0 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Wednesday to climb back into the top four. The victory was a perfect response following a disappointing 2-0 defeat by Newcastle United on Sunday and lifted the Red Devils to 53 points, three ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and level with the Magpies in third. United started brightly, forcing a series of corners and free kicks as Brentford pulled their outfield players behind the ball to try to close down space, and when the breakthrough came…

Nigeria’s Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed on Wednesday said the country has secured $800 million from the World Bank to expand its National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) ahead of the elimination of its costly but popular petrol subsidies in June. The programme which was designed to uplift millions of Nigerians consists of N-Power, National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG), Alternate School Programme (ASP), Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP). GEEP is a microcredit social intervention scheme which consists of TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni. This year, Nigeria set aside 3.36 trillion naira ($7.3 billion) for petrol subsidies…

Chelsea is set re-appoint Frank Lampard as interim manager after talks between the club and the former Chelsea midfielder. Lampard who was at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night for Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool was sighted along with co-owner Behdad Eghbali and co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. Following the sacking of Graham Potter, the club has been linked with many managers including Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique but the new board led by Todd Boehly has decided to settle for the Chelsea legend in interim capacity. The talks are moving quickly, and he could be in charge of…

The Kano State Police Command has arrested a Nigerian man, Philibus Ibrahim for allegedly strangling his pregnant girlfriend, Theresa Yakubu, 22 to death. Ibrahim, who committed the crime in the state’s Tudun Wada Local Government Area (LGA), was apprehended along with his accomplice Gabriel Bila, both of Unguwar Korau Tudun-Wada LGA. Mr. Mamman Dauda, the state Commissioner of Police, confirmed the arrest in Kano on Tuesday. According to Dauda, on April 2 at around 4:30 p.m., we received information from a good Samaritan that a lady was found unconscious on Kano-Jos Road in Anadaria Village. “On receiving the information, a…

Chelsea have made contact with former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, 35, and ex-Spain manager Luis Enrique, 52, over becoming the club’s new manager. (Telegraph – subscription required) However, Chelsea could appoint their former midfielder and manager Frank Lampard as caretaker boss until the end of the season after he was seen in the stands watching Tuesday’s draw with Liverpool. (Sun) Brighton’s Italian boss Roberto de Zerbi, 43, is not being considered as a potential manager for Chelsea following the sacking of his Seagulls predecessor Graham Potter. (Athletic – subscription required) Having been sacked by Chelsea, Englishman Potter, 47, is a candidate to become the next West Ham boss with the club…

In Inter Milan’s dramatic Coppa Italia draw against Juventus in Turin, Romelu Lukaku scored a 95th-minute penalty and was then sent off. In the 83rd minute, Juan Cuadrado scored for Juventus, before Gleison Bremer’s handball gifted Inter an extra-time penalty kick. The striker on loan from Chelsea was sent off for celebrating in front of his home crowd. After the final whistle, Inter captain Samir Handanovic and Cuadrado were both shown red cards. Scuffles broke out between players on both sides following Lukaku’s penalty and the second yellow card that followed it, and they continued down the tunnel. Inter, the…