Swansea City will consider offloading Bafetimbi Gomis to the Middle East next month ahead of a squad overhaul in the summer. The Frenchman is believed to be a £6.5million target for Lekhwiya, with the Qatari club deliberating over an offer of £60,000-a-week to land the striker. Swansea are understood to be receptive to bids for a 30-year-old who has faded badly after a good start this season and who, at the start of the year, infuriated the club’s hierarchy by indicating his desire to leave at a time when it was known Wilfried Bony would be joining Manchester City. He…
Author: David Folami
Louis van Gaal has a potential escape route if he is forced to leave Manchester United, with Netherlands national coach Danny Blind, one of his closest friends in football, raising the idea of him become technical director for his nation. Van Gaal’s position is safe for Saturday’s home match against Swansea City and probably the Old Trafford FA Cup tie with Sheffield United a week later. But his future remains uncertain, with Manchester United already five points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League table. Managerless Swansea’s record of four wins in five against United forms the backdrop to…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is considering a £4million bid for Leicester’s England under-20 international Ben Chilwell. Klopp wants to move swiftly for the highly-rated left-back, who is yet to make a Premier League appearance, as he plans for the future at Anfield. Chilwell is on loan at Huddersfield Town and has only made one appearance for Leicester but is already regarded as a future England international, with Arsenal having a £3.5million offer rejected in the summer. Klopp and Liverpool’s recruitment team were intending to move for the 19-year-old in the summer but are now ready to step up their interest…
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will be out with a calf injury for another “three or four” weeks, manager Manuel Pellegrini says. Kompany, 28, limped out of the Boxing Day win over Sunderland after a brief substitute appearance. City drew 0-0 at Leicester on Tuesday, their first clean sheet of the season without the Belgium defender. “It is the same calf but a different part,” said Pellegrini, whose side are third in the Premier League table. Kompany has missed 11 of his team’s 19 league matches this season after injuring his calf against Juventus on 15 September. He briefly returned…
Manchester United’s entire squad is playing for its future, says defender Chris Smalling. Boss Louis van Gaal faces speculation over his job after going eight games without a victory, United’s worst run since 1989-90. But England international Smalling says no-one should feel safe. “If anything, we are all playing for our own futures as well,” the 26-year-old said. “To say we’re not playing for the manager is silly.” Van Gaal has overseen seven goalless draws this term and his team are five points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League table, halfway through the Premier League season. Despite conjecture…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said his side’s trip to Sunderland on Wednesday will provide another test of their ability to compete with physical opponents. Klopp predicted that Sam Allardyce’s side would go back to basics after their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City on Boxing Day — and that would reveal whether the Reds could deal with such a threat consistently. Liverpool beat then league leaders Leicester on Boxing Day after having previously struggled against strong, deep-defending sides such as Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion. “Everybody can imagine what will happen at Sunderland,” Klopp told a news conference. “I…
Louis van Gaal should be given more time to succeed as Manchester United manager — according to his sacked predecessor, David Moyes. Moyes was given a six-year contract when he succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2013 but lasted less than 10 months before he was fired with United in seventh place. Van Gaal’s team are now sixth after going out of the Champions League, going eight games without a win and losing four of their last five matches. But while the Dutchman is under pressure, Moyes believes that he has a huge rebuilding job as United adjust…
Guus Hiddink has played down talk of Cesc Fabregas leaving Chelsea in January and confirmed that the Spaniard will be fit to face Crystal Palace. A number of reports this week claimed that Fabregas — who was substituted at half-time during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Watford on Saturday and missed Monday’s trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United with a high temperature — is facing an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge, with both Juventus and Inter reported to be interested in bringing him to Serie A in the New Year. Fabregas has had a disappointing season at Chelsea and…
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is preparing to play his 500th game for the club in Wednesday evening’s La Liga clash with Real Betis at the Camp Nou. Messi, 28, is in line to reach the milestone 10 years and two months after making his first appearance for the Catalan club, although recent medical issues and plenty of air miles may mean he starts on the bench. After passing a kidney stone a few days before that FIFA Club World Cup final on Dec. 20, he then travelled over 40,000 kilometres in returning to Barcelona, flying to Argentina to spend Christmas…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he will be busy in the January transfer window as he seeks reinforcements to keep the Gunners on top of the Premier League. The Frenchman would not be drawn on names, however, despite British media reports that Basle’s Egyptian international midfielder Mohamed Elneny was set to become his first signing of 2016. “You know more than I do. Unfortunately we cannot announce anything at the moment about this player because nothing has been concluded,” Wenger told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s home game against struggling Newcastle United. “I will be busy, yes. I am…
Arsenal have played down fears that injured England midfielder Jack Wilshere could miss next year’s European championship finals, with manager Arsene Wenger saying on Wednesday he expected the player to return in February. “I don’t believe that at all,” the Frenchman said in response to a suggestion that Wilshere was doubtful for the Euro 2016 tournament in France. “I maintain what I said that he could make it back for February, or even earlier. He will be available again. Considering you play the Euros on June 10, that is a long way,” Wenger told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s…
Records act, Reekado Banks has issued a scam alert, warning his fans and followers of accounts diverse accounts in his name and requesting details of followers for fraudulent use. A message on Facebook from a spoof Reekado Banks account had earlier gone viral which claims the fast rising music act is running a promo and intends to reward fans with Blackberry phones, Plasma TVs and laptops. The budding singer however took to his official Instagram account to deny and dissociate himself from the message by saying: “My notice was brought to this, Please it’s not true at all. Please don’t…
There is no Bez without his glasses and he says his that he owns almost 30 of them! In a chat with us on Thursday February 5, the alternative singer confessed he began wearing glasses around the age of 12-13. He said, “I didn’t start wearing glasses as a kid. It only came while I was a secondary school student… at JS 2”. The ‘Stupid Song’ crooner wears them in different brands and colors, on and off stage but he says his glasses come with different prize tags. “My most expensive pair of glasses cost me slightly above $400 and…
Yoruba movie actress Moji Olaiya has denounced all allegations that she has dumped her religion of Islam. She also shares juicy details about her new man. In an interview with Encomium on February 18, 2015 Moji spoke extensively about her religion saying “I cant dump Islam. That can’t happen to me. Allah forbids that. Nothing can make me quit Islam. I am aware of a lot of people are saying so many things concerning that. I will forever abide by Islam and I donot regret it” The rumours of Moji denouncing Islam begun when she was spotted on some occasions…
December 25th is over, but that doesn’t mean the Christmas gifts have to stop pouring in. Hollywood actor, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson believes in just that as he gifts his ‘Uncle’ a car for Christmas. The first time father of daughter, Jasmine, yesterday shared a photo collage on Instagram of the monster truck he just recently gifted a man he calls ‘Uncle Tonga’, alongside a heart-warming account of the two. The photo shows a young Dwayne Johnson at his first match in Texas, alongside one of Uncle Tonga and a third of the two together with the gifted truck in…
Kourtney Kardashian, 36, has confirmed she’s single despite rumors of her hooking up with Justin Bieber and a possible reconciliation with baby daddy, Lord Scott Disick. “I’m not a dating person. I’m not seeing anyone right now,” the single mother of three assured her mother, Kris Jenner is a new teaser of the ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ “I’m just telling you to keep an open mind. It would be kind of cool if you … went on a date,” Kris tells her most senior daughter. But the 36-year-old replied, “I did the dating thing before Scott for like a…
Music star Burna Boy is now the brand ambassador of Martell Cognac. The ‘Soke’ singer revealed his new deal today (December 29) on his Instagram account. “715 We The Martell Cartel!! Say hello to your official Martell Ambassador. #caractere #OAS #MARTELL. 2016 has already begun!!!” wrote the singer. This year Burna Boy extended his endorsement deal with GLO. Also, Burna Boy was one of the co-headliners of this year’s Hennessy Artistry. Burna Boy released his sophomore album ‘On A Spaceship’ in November. “Burna Boy lined up this LP with just enough sonic fuel to launch, but not enough to hit…
Theophilus Nnaji, father of Nollywood super actress Genevieve Nnaji was 80 years old today (December 15). On Boxing Day, Genevieve held a birthday party for her father. It was a double celebration also because the party was organized to mark her parents’ 46th wedding anniversary. The party was held in Genevieve’s village, Mbaise, Imo state. Genevieve’s father was an engineer before he retired. The actress is the fourth child out of eight in the family. This December, Genevieve Nnaji hit 1 million followers on Instagram. Besides being the Queen of Nigerian Instagram, Genevieve is the only Nollywood actress to have…
2015 was a good year for Wizkid; he did a song with Drake, signed a huge endorsement deal with GLO, and dropped steady hits. Topping up his successful year, Wizkid has just bought an expensive watch, and it is no ordinary watch. A day before yesterday (December 28) the pop star showed off his Diamond Rolex watch on Instagram. “Frosted!!! @josephfrostoflondon!!” he captioned the close up picture of his Diamond rolex. Joseph Frost is a popular jeweler based in London. His clients include footballer Emmanuel Adebayor, boxer Amir Khan, and boxer David Haye. This December, Wizkid performed ‘Ojuelegba’ remix with…
today (December 29), African pop act Wizkid will give out a col sum of one million Naira at Industry Nite Special which he will be headlining. Wizkid revealed he will be giving out cash to four lucky fans of his on Twitter yesterday (December 28). The ‘Baba Nla’ singer will split one million Naira among four of his fans who can fully sing any of his songs. This will be Wizkid’s last show for 2015, and he wants to thank fans for a memorable 2015. The Industry Nite Special will take place at the Grand Ball Room of the Oriental…