Nine first team stars will be leaving Arsenal this season as Arsene Wenger plans a major clear-out. The Gunners are set to finish the season without a trophy after starting with lot of promises. Having won back to back FA Cup trophies, Arsenal were favourites to win the Premier League this season. With Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United stuttering this season, Wenger’s men had just Leicester City and Tottentam to challenge for the title. They are however 11 points off league leaders, Leicester and seven behind Spurs. Wenger according to reports feels let down by a host of his…
Author: David Folami
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the Premier League had set a dangerous precedent in replacing referee and Leicester City fan Kevin Friend for Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash with Stoke City on Monday. Neil Swarbrick will instead referee the fixture as second-placed Spurs, who are chasing a first league title since 1961, look to close the seven point gap on leaders Leicester City. “I am surprised and disappointed. It questions the integrity of the referee and sets a dangerous precedent,” Wenger told reporters on Friday. “The solution is you don’t look where they come from and who they support, you…
After being handed a Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid, Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain is confident his club can upset the odds. City progressed to the last four of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time with a 3-2 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain, while Madrid’s comeback against Wolfsburg saw them reach the semis for the sixth year in a row. Against a firmly established European superpower, Begiristain knows City have their work cut out against the 10-time champions, but is optimistic they can prevail over two legs. “We’re delighted to be in the semis…
Emilio Butragueno says Real Madrid cannot afford to underestimate Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Champions League after stumbling at the penultimate hurdle last season. Zinedine Zidane’s men avoided Bayern Munich and domestic rivals Atletico Madrid during Friday’s semi-final draw, but former striker Butragueno, now a director at the Santiago Bernabeu, has warned his club City will pose a stern test, too. “It will be a very even tie. We are talking about two clubs with players of the highest level,” Butragueno was quoted as saying by AS. “Manchester City are a very dangerous opponent and they will be…
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will face Villarreal in the Europa League semi-finals, while champions Sevilla were pitted against Shakhtar Donetsk in Friday’s draw in Nyon. A stunning late fightback saw the Reds progress to the final four at the expense of Klopp’s old club Borussia Dortmund and they must now find a way past La Liga opposition to reach the May 18 final at Basel’s St Jakob-Park. The first legs – which see Shakhtar and Villarreal as the home sides – will take place on April 28, with the return matches a week later. Liverpool scored four second-half goals to oust…
Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is unlikely to play for his club again season due to a knee injury, manager Louis van Gaal said on Friday. The 31-year-old sustained the injury on international duty in March and is in a race against time to prove his fitness to lead Germany in the European Championship in France starting in June. “I don’t think Schweinsteiger shall play this season — I think, next season, he is prepared. Maybe he is prepared for the European Championship, I cannot predict,” Van Gaal told the club’s website. United, who are fifth in the Premier League,…
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola feels Atletico Madrid are on par with Barcelona and Real Madrid after the Bundesliga champions were paired with Diego Simeone’s men during Friday’s Champions League semi-final draw. Guardiola’s men avoided Madrid and Manchester City in the last four, but the Spanish coach feels Atletico have shown in recent years that they are up there with the continent’s very best. “Spanish teams have always been on top of their game in European games over the past few years,” Guardiola said at a news conference. “I have been keeping a close eye on the Spanish league in…
Former Valencia coach, Gary Neville was seen in Manchester on Thursday, April 14 riding his £100,000 BMW i8. He was seen leaving his hotel that he co-owns with his former Manchester United teammates. The former right back who is also the assistant coach of the England national team was pictured wheeling a small suitcase before getting in to his posh car. Neville endured a torrid spell in charge at Mestalla, winning just 10 of his 28 matches in all competitions and overseeing exits from both the Copa del Rey and the Europa League. Protests from supporters had grew which led…
Paulo Dybala wants Lionel Messi to make the switch to Juventus. Juve’s leading scorer described the Barcelona star as his “idol” and would love to play alongside him in Turin. “He’s my idol; he does things that no one else can do,” Dybala told Corriere della Sera. “Since Ronaldinho doesn’t play anymore, I would like Messi [to join Juventus].” Messi has repeatedly rejected talk of moving to another European club, though Juve are faring well without the Argentina striker. Massimiliano Allegri’s side are six points clear at the Serie A summit and on course for a fifth consecutive Scudetto. It…
As his future remains uncertain, Jose Mourinho was seen shopping in London recently. The Portuguese has been out of a job since December after parting ways with Chelsea just seven months after guiding them to the Premier League title. Free agent, Mourinho was seen at Knightsbridge on Thursday, April 14 as he went on a shopping trip. He was mobbed by some fans who needed a photograph with the popular coach. The 53-year-old revealed he rejected an offer from war-torn Syria to become the new coach of their national team. “They published on their website the letter they sent to…
Goal drought of Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo is a source of worry for Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores ahead of their Premier League clash with West Brom. Ighalo has scored 14 league goals this season while his strike partner Troy Deeney has scored nine. These goals have helped solidified Watford’s league status this season in 15th position in the table. Ahead of their clash with West Brom on Saturday, April, 15, Sanchez Flores is worried with the dry spell of his frontmen. “It is clear. The second half of the season we have problems to score – I try to…
Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has said what Nigeria needs to develop industrially is a good plan, commitment to the plan, and the discipline to implement it. He stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, April 15, in Abuja, Recounting his days as the head of state, Gowon said “we had a development plan, which was agro-allied industry, with the hope that that will be a platform for the future Nigeria’s industrial development and industrial take off. “And with that particular programme, although it was mainly agro-allied, we had iron…
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his one week official visit to China has $6 billion in investment for Nigeria. This was disclosed in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Friday, April 15. According to Shehu, the President believed that the agreements concluded with the Chinese during the visit would have a huge and positive impact on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation. He said: “In the power sector, North South Power Company Limited and Sinohydro Corporation Limited signed an…
Prominent economist, Professor Pat Utomi has said that Nigeria has a lazy political class. Utomi made the remark on Wednesday, April 13, 2016, during a media conference in Lagos. “We have a lazy political class that is not visionary enough to see the need to reposition the country in the right policies that will shore up growth and stability in our economy without the sense of playing selfish,” he said. “The play in this is such that corruption has created a custom of people with money without the thought or foresight to create jobs for its citizens. “The government is…
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has reportedly asked the Chinese government not to borrow Nigeria $2 billion being sought by President Muhammadu Buhari. Fayose, who travelled to China on Wednesday, April 13, to attend the 119th China Import and Export Fair, otherwise known as the Canton Fair holding between April 14 and 19, three days after the President left for the country to secure a low interest loan. In a letter written to the Chinese authority and dated April 12, the governor said: “The government of China should be mindful of the fact that Nigerians, irrespective of their political…
Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said sitting president and governors seeking re-election should vacate office before poll is conducted to enable a free and fair process. Sule said general elections in the country are not credible because incumbent leaders conduct them. The elder statesman stated this on Wednesday, April 13, while speaking as as conference ambassador at the University of Calabar, during the premier edition of the Faculty of Arts International Conference, April 2016. Sule said Nigeria and most African states have not gotten democratic governance right because of the failure to…
Ex-Kogi Governor, Idris Wada on Thursday, April 14, tendered the original copy of his voter card before the state election petition tribunal to authenticate his candidacy in the Kogi governorship election. Wada, who contested the November 21 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tendered the card while being led in evidence by his Counsel, Mr Chris Uche (SAN). Other documents tendered by the ex-governor were the total number of valid votes for the November 21, 2015 and December 5, 2015 governorship election in the state. The documents also included a nomination form containing his profile,…
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki was absent as Senators voted for the amendment of the Code of Conduct Act. Vanguard reports that the plenary session of Thursday, April 14, 2016, was presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Ekweremadu also cleared the air on allegations that the amendment was aimed at getting Saraki off the hook, as he faces trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). He said “Let me just say that this bill absolutely has nothing to do with the proceedings going on at the code of conduct tribunal in which the senate president is…
Former aide to ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati has urged Nigerians to stop blaming the government alone for the country’s problems. Abati also said, via an article titled “Who governs Nigeria?” that all citizens share a collective responsibility to make the country better. Read the full article below: During the Jonathan administration, an outspoken opposition spokesperson had argued that Nigeria was on auto-pilot, a phrase that was gleefully even if ignorantly echoed by an excitable opposition crowd. Deeper reflection should have made it clear even to the unthinking that there is no way any country can ever be on auto-pilot,…
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is very strict on money matters. Osinbajo made the disclosure on Thursday, April 14, 2016, during the presentation of a book written by the president’s wife, Aisha Buhari. “The president and I are on half salaries. The president is very strict on money issues. So, don’t expect me to make a large donation,” he said. Osinbajo attended the event as a representative of Buhari, who is currently in China for an official visit. The event was also attended by Senator Oluremi Tinubu who represented her husband and chairman of the…