Timothy Fosu-Mensah has agreed a new long-term deal to stay at Manchester United, according to British newspaper reports. The Daily Telegraph claims he will sign a new four-year contract with the Daily Mail adding an official announcement will take place in the coming days. The 18-year-old defender, who joined United’s academy squad from Ajax in September 2014, made his first-team debut in the 3-2 win over Arsenal in February. He made 10 appearances for the first team last season, which included a start in the FA Cup semifinal win over Everton. By signing an extension Fosu-Mensah would join 18-year-old Marcus…
Author: David Folami
Barcelona dropped out of the bidding for Paul Pogba this summer because of his inflated price tag, according to the Catalan club’s international transfer advisor Ariedo Braida. Pogba completed a world record €105 million move from Juventus to Manchester United, but Braida does not believe the France international midfielder is worth that much. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the former AC Milan director bemoaned the increasingly inflated price of footballers. “Nobody is worth that amount of money,” he said. “All footballers are overvalued. When you reach such levels, the gap to normality is truly too great. “We’re…
Manchester United’s world-record new signing Paul Pogba is suspended for his side’s first Premier League match of the season, the Football Association (FA) has confirmed. Pogba, 23, returned to Old Trafford from Juventus this summer for £89.3 million, four years after leaving for Turin for just £800,000 following a lack of game time and a dispute over a new contract. However, he will have to wait to make his second United debut as he is banned from appearing in the club’s first Premier League match of the new season at Bournemouth on Sunday. The France midfielder is suspended due to…
Thomas Mueller says Bayern Munich are desperate to end their German Super Cup drought against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday after three years without getting their hands on the trophy. The German champions have lost the last three Super Cup showdowns, when the best two teams in Germany go head-to-head, and they face last season’s Bundesliga runners-up Dortmund at Borussia’s sold-out Signal Iduna Park stadium. Mueller scored what proved to be the winner when Bayern last won the title at Munich’s Allianz Arena in August 2012 with a 2-1 win over Dortmund. Since then, Bayern have failed in their last three…
Mauricio Pochettino believes that his Tottenham players have learnt from the painful experiences of last season as they prepare to kick off their Premier League campaign at Everton on Saturday. Pochettino’s side were enjoying the club’s best season since the early 1960s as they tussled with Leicester for the Premier League title. But they choked in the final weeks and a bad-tempered draw at Chelsea handed the title to Leicester before a humiliating 5-1 defeat at already-relegated Newcastle allowed bitter rivals Arsenal to pip them for second spot. That added up to a bitter close-season for Tottenham supporters, but Pochettino…
James Milner and Daniel Sturridge could miss Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Arsenal on Sunday due to injury, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday. Sturridge, who has made just 18 league starts over the past two seasons, picked up a hip injury ahead of last Saturday’s friendly against Barcelona, and Milner sustained a heel problem during the 4-0 victory over the Spanish champions. “(Sturridge) had a few days where he couldn’t train and that’s not too good for the Arsenal game but we have other players who are available,” Klopp told reporters. Milner, who has announced his retirement from England…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confident that new signing Rob Holding can help them overcome their mounting defensive problems after confirming that injured Per Mertesaker and Gabriel Paulista face long spells on the sidelines. Wenger said that German Mertesacker would be out for around four months after injuring his knee in a friendly against Lens in July, and Brazilian Gabriel for six to eight weeks with an ankle injury. France defender Laurent Koscielny is also unavailable for the first game of the season after only returning to training this week following his participation in Euro 2016. Wenger said that Holding,…
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says that accusations of arrogance against him are unfair, and that his grand proclamations are merely expressions of supreme confidence. The Swedish striker, who is in line to make his Premier League debut for United at Bournemouth on Sunday, is renowned for talking himself up and being dismissive of his opponents. But the 34-year-old says that his attitude is merely a reflection of the drive that has enabled him to win league titles in four different countries and amass a huge haul of personal honours. “I don’t believe I’m arrogant in the way that people…
Co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) advocacy group, Aisha Yesufu has chided the federal government over its inability to secure the release of 218 schoolgirls who were abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state in April, 2014. Yesufu who spoke exclusively with Pulse correspondent in Abuja lauded the efforts of the Nigerian Army in northeast but stated that a lot more still needs to be done by the federal government. She lamented the information gap between the government and Nigerians. “Our sisters are there in Sambisa, they are waiting for this nation to rescue them and…
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, August 10, berated state governments owing workers’ salaries, saying a progressive government must maintain a national minimum wage. He stated this in Abuja during a forum tagged ‘The Podium’, organised by The Kukah Centre in collaboration with the Ford Foundation. At the programme themed: ‘From Activism to Political Power: The Challenges of Democratic Governance in Nigeria,’ Oshiomhole said a labourer is worthy of his wages. He said: “This is where I’m different. I still insist any government who wants to be taken seriously must have a national minimum wage. “We must maintain a…
Prominent chiefs in the Ede community of Osun state have accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of trying to cause disaffection in the state. The chiefs said Aregbesola is encouraging the people of Osogbo community to take part of the land that belongs to Ede. Representatives of the community also accused the Osun Governor of harbouring a grudge against them. According to Punch, the National Vice-President of the Federation Council of Ede Descendants Union, Chief Moshood Adeleke, said “This is the crux of the matter and this is why we are calling the attention of the general public to the decision of…
The Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has faulted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) recent increase in lending rate. El-Rufai also said the Federal Government might be forced to reduce the lending rate through legislation. The CBN had earlier announced the increase in the lending rate from 12% to 14%, in a bid to tighten money supply. El-Rufai also faulted the CBN’s practise of raising the interest rate above the inflation level, saying it does not make sense. Punch reports that the Kaduna Governor cited the United Kingdom (UK), saying “While inflation in the United Kingdom was between seven and…
The Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal has revealed that he plans to ban street begging. The Governor said the act is degrading and it does not align with the tenets of Islam. He said this while giving assistance to the needy under the State Zakkat and Endowment Committee. Tambuwal also said he will liaise with Muslim clerics in the state to deliberate on how to stop begging. He promised to improve the lives of Sokoto people despite the present economic situation in the country. Also, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, also praised the Governor for funding…
Former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of establishing a northern agenda in his governance of Nigeria. Fani-Kayode made the allegations via an article titled “The Niger Delta Crusaders, The Muslim Pilgrims & the United States of Nigeria (Part 2).” In part one of the article series, Fani-Kayode criticized some of Buhari’s ministers and described Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola as a shameless liar. Read part two below: Sadly many in the conservative core north remain unconvinced. For example the Arewa Consultative Forum issued a statement on the 7th August in which they stated…
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently holding a closed door meeting with Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. The meeting between the duo is said to be taking place inside Buhari’s office at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Details of the meeting are not yet known. Soyinka recently admonished Buhari for not taking a firm position against the rampaging Fulani herdsmen who have killed hundreds of people around the country.
According to President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria is now a poor country due to the drop in global oil prices. Buhari made the comment on Thursday, August 11, 2016, while meeting with the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), Professor Babatunde Osotimehin at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45…
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has condemned a United States report which declared 20 Nigerian states “unsafe” and completely no go area,’’ saying the US is not better. Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, August 11, when he received a delegation from the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Mohammed urged the media to desist from propagating negative news about the country, stressing that it would discourage investors and be counter productive to tourism growth. He said: “Recently, all the newspapers carried the negative story that 20 states in Nigeria are not safe, according to a U.S.…
Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said if the ongoing search for oil in the north becomes successful, President Muhammadu Buhari would be the first to call for the restructuring of Nigeria. In a series of tweets on Thursday, August 11, Fani-Kayode said if the search, however, fails, the President and the north will be against restructuring, which according to him is the way forward for the country. He said the north will do everything possible to block the idea of restructuring because the region thrives on the Southern oil.
Today is the birthday of talented Nigerian rapper and producer Jesse Jagz. Known as of one Nigeria’s best lyricists and producers in the country, Jesse Jagz has dropped two critically acclaimed albums ‘Jagz Nation, Vol.1. Thy Nation Come (2013)’, ‘Jagz Nation Vol. 2: Royal Niger Company (2014)’. After leaving Chocolate City in 2013 he re-signed with Chocolate City in 2015. Jesse Jagz has a daughter Jade Abaga from his relationship with Ruby Gyang. In October 2015, Jesse Jagz bought a BMW for his manager. Happy birthday Jesse Jagz!
Popular Nigerian comedian Basketmouth, 37, has apologized to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for saying his administration placed the country in a septic tank. Yesterday (Tuesday, August 9, 2016) the famous comedian blamed the country’s present economic woes on the immediate past government. “Nigeria was in a bad place by the end of the last administration and it was only a matter of time before we would have suffered the plights of Brazil and Venezuela” he wrote on his Instagram page. Basketmouth also clarified the popular belief that he helped canvas for votes for President Buhari. “I NEVER campaigned for BUHARI or…