Transfer
Gary Lineker expects Manchester clubs or PSG to win Harry Kane race
Gary Lineker believes that both Manchester clubs and Paris Saint-Germain are the favourites to land Harry Kane in the summer, although he expects Daniel Levy to fight hard to keep Tottenham’s star man. Kane recorded 22 goals and 14 assists in the Premier League last season to secure both the golden boot and the playmaker award, despite Spurs finishing in seventh place in the table. As reported by Goal on May 17, the Spurs forward, who will captain England at the upcoming European Championship in the summer, wants to leave the north Londoners and Lineker can understand his desire for trophies. “I think that it would be worrying [to see him dominate the league if he joins Manchester City],” Lineker told Goal. “I would love to see him at Barcelona but they are going for [Sergio] Aguero and ar...
Manchester City willing to break £100 million barrier to sign Aston Villa skipper
Manchester City are willing to break the £100m barriers to sign Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish. The Daily Mail says Grealish has long been admired by Pep Guardiola and City’s manager wants the 25-year-old at the hub of what he hopes he will become the second great team of his reign in Manchester. Villa rewarded Grealish last September with a lucrative new contract and the club captain still has four years to run on his deal. His importance to Dean Smith’s side is huge and, as such, they would not entertain selling their local hero for anything less than a new British transfer record. City have not had the most expensive player in the Premier League since they signed Robinho for £32.5m at the start of the Abu Dhabi era in September 2008 but there is recognition that recruiting Grealish w...
President Buhari presides over extraordinary summit of Lake Chad Basin Commission
President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an extraordinary summit of Heads of State and Government of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Newsmen report that other sub-regional leaders participating in the summit include the Presidents of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum and Central African Republic, Faustin Touadera. Others are Mahamat Idriss Deby, President of the Transitional Military Council of the Republic of Chad, while Cameroon’s President Paul Bryan, was represented at the meeting. Other participants at the summit include representatives of Mohamed Al-Menfi, Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, and the Sudanese President. Newsmen report that the leaders would be discussing the growing security threats in Sahel and Lake Chad region, politica...
Manchester United step up Kingsley Coman transfer bid
Getty Images Manchester United have reportedly told Kingsley Coman they are ready to pay him £200,000 a week after tax. The Bayern Munich star has two years left on his contract but is yet to agree terms over a new deal. Bild claim Coman, 24, earns £200k a week before tax but ‘would like to have it in net’. United have apparently ‘indicated’ to the Frenchman they are willing to meet his demands – and make him their joint fifth top earner. But there is no guarantee of a quick transfer as Bayern are in no rush to make a decision on his future. And the Bundesliga champions will be able to demand a hefty fee with Transfermarkt valuing him at £58.5million. United are in the market for a new winger with Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo both top targets. Coman has long been linked and could be ...
Firm cautions Nigerian government over sale of national assets
Agusto Consulting has cautioned the federal government over its plan to relinquish national assets to private hands, saying, the risk involved is unquantifiable. Agusto Consulting, in a report titled “Rethinking Nigeria’s Models for Infrastructure Development,” noted that, the benefits of relinquishing control to the private sector are glaring, but remain difficult to implement. Noting that the federal government’s handing off certain critical assets of the country that have been dormant over the years will positively impact on the country’s budgetary allocation, but added that this decision has caveats and risks associated with operating models that involve private sector participation regardless of the levels of participation. “First is the high level of corruption in the country and the...
Report: Barcelona open to selling Antoine Griezmann for the right price
Italian Sky Sports journalist Matteo Moretto has proclaimed that Barcelona are willing to sell French superstar Antoine Griezmann in the summer if they were to receive an adequate offer, in order to try and ease the pressure on their accounts. After a far from optimal start to his stint in Garnet and Blue, Griezmann has largely managed to turn his fortunes around. He has established himself as a very useful asset for Barcelona, and proved to be an instrumental part of the Catalans’ Copa del Rey triumph. However, despite his turn of form, there has been constant speculation regarding Antoine Griezmann’s departure from Barcelona. Considering the massive cost of his transfer from Atletico Madrid two seasons ago and his high wages, the club might be open to a sale in the summer. The upcoming t...
Two people killed in Sudan rally over 2019 protest killings
At least two people have been killed and dozens wounded as Sudanese security forces cracked down on a rally that demanded justice for protesters killed during anti-government demonstrations two years ago, according to the army. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Wednesday said he was “shocked” by the killings, calling it a “crime to use live bullets against peaceful protesters”. Hundreds gathered on Tuesday evening outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, at the site where thousands gathered in 2019 initially demanding the removal of then-President Omar al-Bashir and urging a transfer to civilian rule. The demonstration on Tuesday started shortly before iftar, the evening meal which breaks the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. It marked two years since the bloody dispersa...
Donny van de Beek accused of making Manchester United move with ‘big boy’ attitude
Donny van de Beek has been accused by Marco van Basten of leaving Ajax for Manchester United with a “big boy” attitude, with the Dutch icon of the opinion that too many players depart Amsterdam believing that they have already made it. Van de Beek is among those to have been brought down to earth with a bump after leaving the comfort zone of life in his native Netherlands. A £35 million ($49m) switch to Old Trafford has not played out as planned for the 24-year-old midfielder, with only two Premier League starts taken in as questions are asked of his value to the Red Devils’ cause. Van Basten, who made his name at Ajax before going on to win the Ballon d’Or three times with AC Milan, told Ziggo Sport of Van de Beek and his struggles in England: “It just shows what a great life they have wh...
Arsenal set for complete overhauling, close in on £43 million move
Arsenal are set for a busy summer in the transfer market as Mikel Arteta looks to better the Gunners’ underwhelming season this time out, and the north London side are being linked several names. With only four Premier League fixtures remaining, attention has already turned to the summer transfer window. It could prove to be a decisive period for Arteta as Arsenal look to close the gap to the top four next campaign. Attracting new faces to the Emirates Stadium could prove challenging, but there is no doubt that change is needed at the club. The ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic will mean many clubs are restricted in their efforts to improve, with Arsenal among those, though winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League will surely boost their hopes of landing ...
Police: Man nabbed with human head, hands in Kwara
The Kwara State Police Command has announced the arrest of one Kehinde Moses, 24, who was allegedly caught with a fresh human head and hands on Monday. The spokesperson of the command, Ajayi Okasanmi, said a team of operatives, on a stop and search duty along Ajase-Ipo road, stopped a commercial bus and in the process of searching a bag, one boy took to his heels while his partner was held. He said the bag was searched and a freshly severed head and hands of a boy was discovered. According to him, in the course of interrogation, Mr Moses confessed to have killed the victim named Mohammed in Ajase Ipo with his fleeing partner for ritual purposes. “On the strength of the discovery, the Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Lawal Bagega psc, directed the homicide section of the state criminal i...
Kwara partners with TIIDELab to train youths on software development
The Kwara State Government has set up a plan to empower youths in the state with tech skills to meet 21st century market demands. The government, in partnership with TIIDELab, is organising a tech training session for young people ahead of a fellowship programme that will feature the best hands picked from the qualifying session, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youths Engagement Kaothara Adeyi. ‘The pre-fellowship session is a prelude to a six-month software engineering fellowship programme,’ the statement said. ‘The fellowship will take participants through the nitty-gritty of software engineering alongside several other software skills required to transfer their technical knowledge into solution-driven products.’ It said the participants in the...
Guatemalan president says graft fighter biased, ahead of Harris visit
Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the country’s best-known graft prosecutor for what he said was a left-wing politicization of the fight against corruption, a view at odds with strong U.S. backing for his work. Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, Giammattei nonetheless expressed hope that a visit to Guatemala next week by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will produce shared strategies to create prosperity in rural areas prone to emigration. Harris, a Democrat, is in charge of Washington efforts to tackle the causes of mass migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, collectively dubbed the Northern Triangle, including a focus on corruption and poor governance that she says limit opportunities. There is a $4 billion U.S. aid package to the reg...