Author: David Great

Barcelona have agreed to meet Leeds United’s asking price of £65m for Brazil winger Raphinha, 25, and the Spanish club’s priority will now be to sell Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 25, to Manchester United.(Mirror)  Chelsea appear to be behind Barcelona in their attempts to sign Raphinha and the Blues could consider 26-year-old Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry instead. (Mail) Leicester City and Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans, 25, and Wolves’ Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves, 25, are on Manchester United’s back-up list if they fail to sign De Jong. (Talksport) Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold is working to persuade Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, to withdraw his request to leave the club. (Times – subscription…

A living room is a place in a home that is supposed to be for family time, bonding and watching television, but men’s obsession for football lately is making the living room become a war zone between couples. With their husbands’ eyes and souls glued to the television screen displaying a football match, would wives agree to share the attention of their men with football? How do wives cope with husbands who are football fanatics? When a match is lost, how do wives cope with its effect on their husbands? Football is a game which engages every soul interested in…

The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Usman Baba, has ordered the deployment of police team to Osun, ahead of the July 16 governorship election in the state. The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this on Sunday in a statement he issued in Abuja. He said the team would be headed by Johnson Kokumo, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID). Adejobi said Kokumo, also the supervisory DIG for the South-West, would be assisted by four Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) during the election. He said four Commissioners of Police (CPs),…

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo is “in our plans” for the new season and is “not for sale”. The 37-year-old will miss the first part of United’s pre-season tour to Thailand and wants to leave the club. He returned to United last season after playing for Real Madrid and Juventus. “He is not with us due to personal issues. We are planning with Cristiano Ronaldo for this season. That is it,” said former Ajax manager Ten Hag. “I am looking forward to working with him. Cristiano is not for sale. He is in our…

VP interacts with Progressive Intellectuals Advisory Group Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says professors and academics must take a keen interest, especially in issues of education and healthcare, exploring options for reform and innovation in those human capital development sectors. This was the highlight of the virtual meeting on Friday between Prof. Osinbajo and a team of professors drawn from the six geo-political zones under the auspices of the Progressive Intellectuals Advisory Group (PIAG). The Vice President who interacted with the dons on a number of topical national development issues urged stakeholders especially members of professional bodies to make contributions towards…

The Super Falcons of Nigeria have progressed to the next round of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of minions Burundi on Sunday. Rasheedat Ajibade and Peace Efih both scored one goal each while Uchenna Kanu bagged a brace to help Nigeria reach the quarter-final. The Super Falcons will face rivals Cameroon in the quarterfinals in Morocco. Burundi did a good job holding Nigeria in the first 25 minutes of the game but the goals began to pour in after Ajibade outpaced a Burundian defender and was felled by the goalkeeper to win a penalty.…

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is set to attend the grand finale rally of the party in Osun state. According to sources, the PDP candidate is cutting his European trip short to herald the event ahead of the governorship election on Saturday. The former vice president of Nigeria was criticised for being absent in the Ekiti governorship campaign. Atiku rejects move to replace Okowa with Wike Ademola Adeleke, governorship candidate of the PDP in the state, will be challenging the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, who is seeking reelection. Adeleke also contested for the governorship election…

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu, to take things easy with the race for the presidency in 2023. Kwankwaso, a two-term governor of Kano State, while speaking during an interview on Arise News Television on Sunday, said Tinubu should rather pay attention to his health, warning that the 2023 campaigns will be rigorous. “If you see my friend, Bola, tell him to take it easy, take good care of his health… because I love him so much, he is my friend.…

Supporters of former Minister of Aviation, Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers state have dumped the All Progressives Congress in the last week. Many of his loyalists quit the ruling party over the unfair treatment meted to them with the latest exit coming from a former commissioner for Information and Communications in Rivers, Ibim Semenitari. Others, who announced resignation in letters to their respective wards chairmen are Dawari George, Marvin Yobana (former Africa’s representative at the World Youth Assembly), Nkemka Amadi and Robinson Elechi. All of them did not disclose their next political step as they exited the party. An APC chieftain,…

The Defence Headquarters has dismissed claims by former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode that the Department of State Security (DSS) informed the military about an impending attack on Kuje Medium Correctional Centre and a previous attack on a Kaduna-Abuja passenger train. The Director of Defence Information, Major General Jimmy Akpor, in a statement on Saturday, described the claims as wild and unsubstantiated. Akpor said that Fani-Kayode made allegations in a social media video following the recent spate of terrorist attacks particularly, the attack on the Kuje Custodial Centre. He said that Fani-Kayode had also claimed that soldiers were withdrawn shortly before the…