Pep Guardiola intends to kick off his renewed rivalry with Jose Mourinho in a friendly atmosphere. Manchester City play United in a preseason friendly in Beijing on Monday and plenty of eyes on the two managers as they face each other for the first time since a bitter feud during their respective Barcelona and Real Madrid careers. And the City boss intends to set the tone in the preseason International Champions Cup match at the Bird’s Nest Stadium. “It’s a friendly game, a really friendly game,” Guardiola told a news conference. Asked if he would shake Mourinho’s hand he added:…
Author: David Folami
Jose Mourinho has insisted his focus is to avoid injuries ahead of the Manchester derby in Beijing on Monday because the pitch is “very bad.” Mourinho also pointed out that United are without many key players, unlike Manchester City, for the derby at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the Chinese capital. “City against United for me is at Old Trafford or at the Etihad or even the cup final at Wembley,” Mourinho said. “Not a friendly. Maybe, with these conditions, it’s a double friendly. “The pitch is very bad and the condition of my players is more important than results.…
Jose Mourinho admits the Manchester United legends working in the media can have a significant impact on the fans’ mood but said he would accept their criticism. Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand are among the former United stars to have worked in the media in recent years, and many have offered forthright views during the club’s difficulties since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. While Mourinho has faced little criticism at this stage, Scholes made headlines this weekend when he told Sport Witness that Paul Pogba is not worth anywhere near the money United are…
Jose Mourinho says he is targeting the Premier League title with Manchester United this season. Mourinho takes charge of a United side that has not won the league since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, with Louis van Gaal’s fourth-place finish in 2014-15 their best since. However, after reinvigorating the squad with the arrivals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly — and with Paul Pogba potentially following — he is optimistic that United are ready to challenge once more. “I want to be champion,” Mourinho said in The Sun on Sunday. “To say before the season starts that…
Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain would “betray himself” if he were to leave last season’s Serie A runners-up, club president Aurelio Di Laurentiis said on Wednesday. Higuain’s brother and agent, Nicolas, fuelled speculation last month that the prolific Argentine, who has two years left on his contract, would leave when he said Napoli were not sufficiently ambitious. “I haven’t spoken to the player,” Di Laurentiis told reporters. “The only offer I’ve had was from the president of Atletico Madrid last month and I told him we couldn’t do anything. “He offered €60 million plus two or three players and I said…
Juventus are set to smash Italy’s transfer record by snatching striker Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli after triggering his release clause of €94.7 million, Italian media said on Sunday. All that remains is the Argentine poacher’s signature, which is regarded as a formality, local press said. “It’s all true. Gonzalo Higuain will live in Turin,” declared the Turin daily La Stampa, considered the voice of the Agnelli family – which runs Juventus. He will be “the lethal weapon” that the Italian champions have been crying out for, it added, calling the move the “coup of the summer”. Higuain, 28, who has…
Former Manchester United player Paul Scholes has questioned whether the club should pay a world-record fee for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, saying the 23-year-old is not in the same bracket as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. United have been negotiating with Juventus over the transfer of Pogba, who is a top target for new manager Jose Mourinho, according to media reports in Britain. Scholes was Pogba’s teammate when the latter was a teenager at United and feels despite his obvious talent, the France international has a long way to go before he can stake his claim as…
Senate President, Bukola Saraki has denied rumours that he has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Saraki made the denial via a statement released by his media aide, Bamikole Omishore on Thursday, July 21, 2016. According to Daily Post, the statement reads in part: “In his official capacity as Senate President and chairman, National Assembly, he attended the end of session event of the PDP caucus yesterday evening and spent only 30 minutes before leaving the members to continue with the event. The Senate President would like to assure every Nigerian that he is committed to the APC-led…
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot claim that all its members are saints. Dogara however denied that President Muhammadu Buhari’s was running a partial war against corruption. The Speaker made the comments on Saturday, July 9, 2016, while speaking with journalists in Lagos. “The PDP had been in power for a number of years, more than a decade and if you were to weigh members of opposition that are in government now and had opportunity to serve, those that would have tendencies to engage in pilfering of resources, majority…
Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the House of Representatives has reacted to allegations bothering on budget padding leveled against him and three others by the immediate past chairman of committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumni Jibrin. Jibrin, in a lengthy statement on Thursday, July 21,2016 called for the resignation of Speaker Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, minority leader, Leo Ogor and Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa. He accused Dogara and the other principal officers of illegally inserting and allocating projects worth over N30 billion to their constituencies in the 2016 budget. “These members of the body of principal officers were not comfortable with my…
The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state has been burnt to the ground. The building is said to have been razed in an inferno which occurred on Friday, July 22, 2016. The incident comes just eight days to the July 30 Rivers East Senatorial District rerun elections following the cancellation of the March 11 polls due to outbreaks of violence. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined but arson is widely suspected.
A group, Kogi Youths for Good Governance has called on the Senate to suspend Senator Dino Melaye due to his recent attack on Senator Oluremi Tinubu. The group made the call on Thursday, July 21, 2016, during a peaceful protest to the National Assembly, The Nation reports. “Such misconduct from Dino has not only brought disgrace to his constituents, but to the National Assembly,” the group’s coordinator, Mr Leke Richard said. “Enough of this national and global embarrassment from this lawmaker, who does not know how to fight for the interest of his constituents but against his fellow lawmakers. “We…
Spokesman of the Unity Forum, Senator Kabir Marafa said his group may withdraw the forgery case against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, and three others if directed by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Pulse recalls that the Federal Government slammed forgery charges on the Senate President, his deputy, the immediate past Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, and his deputy Benedict Efeturi. They were accused of forging the 2015 Senate Standing Rules used for their election over a year later. Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, July 22, 2016, Senator Marafa (APC,…
Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has formally announced his return to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ribadu disclosed this in a statement on Friday, July 22, 2016. Describing himself as a founding member of the APC, Ribadu said he heeded to calls from the leadership of the party in Adamawa state who wanted him “back home”. The statement reads: “I have finally heeded the calls on me to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party of which I was a founding member. “I re-registered as a member of the APC…
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside has slammed the Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike over his allegations that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is planning to derail the upcoming rerun elections. Wike had earlier alleged that the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Davies Ikanya and the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu met for several hours to discuss modalities of the upcoming elections. Peterside also accused the Rivers Governor of intimidating INEC, adding that his actions are unbecoming of someone occupying the office of a Governor. He said “It is not in…
The Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Governor Nyesom Wike should be held responsible for the burning of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) office on Friday, July 22, 2016. The party alleged that Wike had earlier threatened the INEC chairman, Senator Magnus Abe and its chairman, Davies Ikanya. A statement released by the party also said “We now know better what he meant. His boys burnt INEC office in Bori just because Bori is the senatorial headquarters of Rivers South-East where Sen. Magnus Abe hails from. “We warned that whenever Wike resorts to throwing…
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says the Federal Government will continue to safeguard Nigeria’s marine environment to improve on revenue generation. Amaechi stated this on Friday in Lagos at the inauguration of the Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence System (CCCIS) of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). “It is pertinent, therefore, to note that the development of this facility began with an approval in 2013 with the aim of providing Business Intelligence for the movement of vessels and cargoes as well as providing improved and secured communications within our waterways for enhancement of efficiency within the nation’s seaports. “I…
The Federal Government on Friday urged herdsmen to embrace ranches and other modern rearing methods to tap from the huge potential in the diary industry. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made the call in Kaduna, at the 32nd pre-convocation lecture of the Kaduna Polytechnic. Represented by the ministry’s Regional Director, North West, Mr Aderemi Abiyoye, the minister said that ranches would best serve the interest of herdsmen, in terms of security and productivity. “Currently, some states agreed on ranches, while others want grazing reserve. There is need for governments and the cattle rearers to be…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has solicited a robust partnership between the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN). Mohammed made the call during a visit to the BBC headquarters in London on Friday. He explained that the partnership will build the capacity of FRCN staff and enhance their efficiency. In a statement on the visit by the Special Adviser to the Minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi, the Minister said the kind ofcapacity building he was advocating must be ”inclusive”, leading to a change in the orientation of the FRCN staff. ”An…
The Kwara Government said it had received about N3.1 billion from the Federation Account as allocation for July. The state Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Demola Banu, released the figure in a statement on Friday in Ilorin. Giving a breakdown, Alhaji Banu disclosed that the government got a statutory revenue allocation (SRA) of N1, 964, 362, 872.63; VAT of N621, 720, 038.40; Exchange Difference of N473, 821. 529.00; and proceeds from solid minerals, N57, 729, 715.55, totaling N3, 117, 634, 155.58. While giving further details of the allocation received by the 16 local governments in the state, the Finance Commissioner said…