Jose Mourinho will bring attacking flair back to Manchester United, having learnt from the mistakes of Louis van Gaal, the club’s former midfielder Paul Scholes has said. The Dutch manager’s two-year tenure at Old Trafford ended on Monday, two days after his side won the FA Cup — United’s first trophy in three years — with Mourinho set to replace him. The Portuguese coach, who was sacked by Chelsea in December, has agreed personal terms with United to take over from Van Gaal, according to reports by Sky TV. “The fans at Man United demand entertaining football, and I’m sure…
Author: David Folami
Manchester United have earned the most prize money since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, and will go through the one billion pound mark next year if they match their fifth-place finish of 2015/16, according to spread-betting firm Spreadex. United have earned £870.3 million, ahead of Arsenal with £842.8 million and Liverpool on £815.4 million, according to the study that collated payments to every team over the past 24 years. This year’s champions Leicester City are 25th on the list, with earnings of £247.7 million, of which £93.2 million was won in this season alone. Depending on where they finish…
“It is a positive feeling,” he said. “I am not masochist enough to love to be booed. “I am in a public job and I accept criticism. I think I have proved in 20 years that I accept being criticised. “My target is to keep everyone happy but unfortunately I don’t manage to do it always. “We did not start the season saying we want to finish above Tottenham. But we wanted to win the league and I agree with you there is a frustration because we didn’t win the league. “Today, we could only play with the target we…
Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal endured a disappointing campaign despite securing the runners-up spot, behind champions Leicester, for the first time since 2005. Arsenal’s 4-0 victory over Aston Villa combined with Tottenham’s disastrous 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday ensured Wenger’s side finished above their local rivals, who had seemed certain to take second place for several weeks. The Gunners have now finished above Tottenham every year since 1995 and the significance of unexpectedly maintaining bragging rights over their hated neighbours was evident from the gleeful reaction of the home supporters. But while Arsenal’s season ended on a high, Wenger admitted…
Arsenal announced the signing of Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka from Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday. The Premier League side said the deal has yet to be officially ratified, but terms have been agreed with the 23-year-old. “Arsenal have reached an agreement with Granit Xhaka to join the club on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee,” said a statement from the North Londoners. Xhaka, the son of Kosovo Albanian immigrants, has represented Switzerland 41 times and helped Gladbach to a fourth place finish this season, bringing with it Champions League football. Gladbach had said last week that they had received an…
Manchester United were locked in a second day of talks with Jose Mourinho’s agents on Wednesday, hammering out a deal to sweep the controversial Portuguese boss into Old Trafford. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager has agreed personal terms on a three-year deal with a likely annual salary of at least £10 million but issues remain over image rights, Sky News television reported. The 53-year-old is mulling a bid for Zlatan Ibrahimovic as one of his first moves in the job, according to media reports, after the star Sweden striker played his final game for French champions Paris Saint-Germain…
Liverpool signed Germany Under-21 goalkeeper Loris Karius from Mainz on Tuesday for a fee reported to be £4.7 million. Karius agreed a five-year contract with the Premier League club and is expected to provide strong competition for Liverpool’s current first-choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. The 22-year-old has taken the No 1 shirt with the approval of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, while the error-prone Mignolet currently wears number 22. Karius, who was in Manchester City’s youth academy for two years before returning to Germany in 2011, will provide much-needed competition for Belgium international Mignolet, whose position has not been threatened since arriving…
Premier League champions Leicester City will be underdogs again next season and staying up remains the priority despite this year’s fairytale success, manager Claudio Ranieri said on Tuesday. “We can fight but we are underdogs,” the Italian told reporters at a Monaco Grand Prix charity match where he was ‘coach’ to an All Stars XI against a team of Formula One drivers and others. “The fairytale happened once and we won. We want to defend our title of course, but for us it’s very, very important to maintain the Premier League,” he added. “Our plan didn’t change. OK, we won.…
France said on Wednesday it will deploy more than 60 000 police to provide security for Euro 2016 as it vowed to do “everything possible to avoid a terrorist attack” during the tournament that starts next month. The comments from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve came after the Stade de France in Paris, which will host the event’s opening match and final, descended into chaos on Saturday before the national cup final after smoke bombs were set off inside the stadium, sparking panic among crowds that clustered at the stadium’s exits. Cazeneuve told the sports daily l’Equipe that the match between…
English soccer’s biggest club seem to have secured the services of the sport’s most colourful manager after Jose Mourinho, according to Sky TV reports, agreed personal terms with Manchester United on Tuesday. After a trophy-laden career with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, Mourinho is set to replace Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who was sacked on Monday, with a remit to bring back the glory days the club once took for granted under Alex Ferguson. The 53-year-old, sacked by Chelsea in December seven months after winning his third Premier League title at the London club over two spells, had…
Former Osun State deputy governor, senator Iyiola Omisore has faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for declaring him wanted. He described the anti-graft agency’s move as a bid to tarnish his image. In a statement issued to newsmen on Tuesday, May 24, omisore said the EFCC’s statement is “the height of mischief and a deliberate attempt to assassinate my character.” “It is now very clear that the EFCC is indeed playing out the script of persecuting and harassing perceived opposition groups in the country. “To be sure, there is no basis for the EFCC so-called statement. Only on…
The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has obtained an arrest warrant for the former deputy governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore. The EFCC is after Omisore for allegedly receiving and misappropriating over N700 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in 2014. The anti-graft agency disclosed this via its Facebook page on Tuesday, May 24. “The EFCC, today, May 24,2016, declared a former deputy governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore wanted,“ EFCC wrote on Facebook. “The former senator is wanted in connection with a case of receiving and misappropriating the sum of over N700, 000,000.00…
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River has announced that the Calabar Monorail is set to be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari. He said the commissioning of the project will be to mark his first year in office. Ayade stated this after a second test ride of the monorail in Calabar. He said that taking another ride in the monorail was his own way of checking to ensure that the project is ready for commissioning before the President arrives the state. The Governor stressed that the kick-off of the monorail would boost the state’s economy and would open employment opportunities for…
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr Mohammed Babandede as the new Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Bassey Akpanyung, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. Until his appointment, Babandede was a Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) at the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters. NAN reports that Babandede replaces Mr Martin Abeshi, who retired from the Service at the end of his tenure. The statement said that the appointment of Mohammed Babandede is to take effect from May…
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has called on Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari administration. Amaechi also said they did not know they were going to meet so many challenges on assumption of office. He said “We encountered challenges; were we expecting to encounter those challenges? yes; did we think that we will meet the quantum or volume of those challenges? “We didn’t anticipate that things were this bad. We thought you go to government and there would be money for you to run government and others.” The minister said this while fielding question from newsmen on Tuesday,…
Former minister of education, Oby Ezekwesili told members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign, at a sit out meeting that Nigeria’s problem is that of leadership. Ezekwesili , who is also the co-convener of the BBOG campaign, said the country is suffering from a leadership crisis. The former World Bank executive said “We have serious leadership crisis, even having an excellent president, it is not sufficient. At the end of the day, you can buy competence, capacity but you can’t buy character. A nation cannot buy character. Character is the foundation in which competence and capacity can deliver…
The House of Representatives has revealed that it will look into how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has maintained all the vehicles that it has seized from corrupt Nigerians. The House committee on Public accounts will also investigate how much has been recovered from the looted public funds from 1999-2016. The chairman, House committee on financial crimes, Kayode Oladele said “My Committee is planning to have an oversight visit to the dumpsites. What you see in Abuja that you’re talking about is child’s play compared with what they have in Lagos. “As a matter of fact, what you…
Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state has called on other state Governors to ban cattle grazing in their various states. He said the move will curb the killings and violence that trail the Fulani herdsmen anywhere they graze. Governor Fayose, on Monday, May 23, 2016, banned grazing and cattle rearing in Ekiti state, following attacks on Oke Ako community in Ikole Local Government Area of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Punch reports that the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communication and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, in a radio interview, quoted Governor Fayose saying “The people are…
Diverse reactions have been trailing the decision by the Ekiti state Governor, Ayo Fayose to ban grazing and cattle rearing in the state. Governor Fayose told hunters in Oke Ako – Ekiti state to defend themselves if attacked by Fulani herdsmen. He also said anyone who desires to rear cattle in the state should get a ranch. The Governor promised to make sure that the state House of Assembly passes a law that will ban grazing. Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere also commended the Governor for taking what it called a bold step. A cross section of Nigerians say Governor Fayose…
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered the ‘reinstated’ National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, not to parade himself as the party’s chairman. The court granted the interim restraining injunction on Tuesday, May 24. The court also barred Adewale Oladipo from parading himself as the national secretary of the party. The two party leaders were removed from office at the PDP national convention held on Saturday, May 21, and a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, was appointed to replace Sheriff. A Federal High Court in Lagos had earlier…