Naija Futbal Plus

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi has been named the third best U25 midfielder in Europe's top five leagues in one key stat. Though the Gunners number 17 has been criticized in recent games, especially against Manchester City on Sunday,  a new performance indicator published by  Ashwin Raman of Football Whispers  suggests the Super Eagles star has lived up to expectations this season. Raman analyzed the matches in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A using advances stats and has ranked the top 20 midfielders and attacking midfielders with 850+ minutes for open play xG+xA/90. It is a methodology of giving marks to each shot or pass and adding them to get a number, showing how much a player could / should have been decisive, on average per match. The top midfielder is Diogo Jota of Wolverhampton Wanderers (0.47) followed by RB Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (0.43), then Iwobi at 0.43.  Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli (0.42) and Man Cit

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has handed the reins of their national U-23 team to Imama Amapakabo. The 49-year-old succeeds Salisu Yusuf, who is serving a ban imposed on him by the NFF last year in relation to bribery and corruption. Amapakabo was the U-23s first assistant coach, but now has the hot seat for their matches against Libya next month in the second round of qualifying for the 2019 African Under-23 Cup of Nations finals.Amapakabo served on the technical team of Nigeria's senior side under coach Gernot Rohr at the World Cup in Russia last year. He also worked with Yusuf in the Nigerian team which finished as runners-up at last year's African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco. The NFF will expect him to secure a qualification berth for the U-23 continental finals, which will be held in Egypt in November. That tournament will in turn serve as the final phase of qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games. The top three teams at the U-23 AFCON secur

Tyrone Ebuehi, who has started training after a long injury lay off, is expected to rejoin the Super Eagles ahead of the AFCON qualifier against Seychelles…in March. By Christian Okpara Super Eagles' Defender, Tyrone Ebuehi, who has been out of the national team since he copped an injury last year, may rejoin the team ahead of the last African Nations Cup Super Eagles' Defender, Tyrone Ebuehi, who has been out of the national team since he copped an injury last year, may rejoin the team ahead of the last African Nations Cup qualifier against Seychelles and the friendly matches lined up as preparatory games for the AFCON. Also likely to rejoin the Eagles is Shehu Abdullahi, who played his first game in three months at the weekend. Ebuehi played for the Eagles at the Russia 2018 World Cup, but he has been kept away from the team by a left anterior cruciate ligament injury he copped in a pre-season game for his club, Benfica against Juventus. Last year

naijafutbalplus.blogspot.com  understands that Nigeria international Daniel Akpeyi might bid farewell to Chippa United before the close of the January transfer window in South Africa. The experienced Super Eagles goalkeeper has just landed in Johannesburg to discuss personal terms with Kaizer Chiefs and it is envisaged that those negotiations will be fruitful. Chippa United reached a club-to-club agreement with Kaizer Chiefs before Akpeyi departed Port Elizabeth this morning. The 32-year-old has been on the books of Chippa United since 2015 and has made over 100 appearances for the club, posting 36 shutouts. He wore the jerseys of Gabros, Heartland, Nasarawa United and Warri Wolves before moving abroad. Akpeyi was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2005 Fifa U20 World Cup, 2016 Olympic Games and 2018 World Cup.

Belgian First Division B side K.S.V. Roeselare have completed the signing of Nigeria international Kingsley Madu on loan from SV Zulte-Waregem. The left back will wear the jersey of K.S.V. Roeselare for the remainder of the 2018-2019 campaign. Madu has found first-team playing opportunities limited in the last few seasons so much so that he has yet to play a competitive game for Zulte-Waregem since March 2018. He was a member of the Dream Team VI squad to the 2016 Olympic Games, where he featured in all the group matches plus the third place playoff vs Honduras. Born in Kaduna, Madu moved to AS Trencin in January 2014 and is credited with 74 appearances for the Slovakian club, scoring three goals with eight assists. His last appearance for the Super Eagles was against Mali in a international friendly three years ago.

Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung is at the head of a Nigerian delegation in London for talks with Nigerian national teams' kit maker, NIKE. The team, which includes Nigeria Football Federation big wigs, including its president, Amaju Pinnick and Second Vice President, Shehu Dikko, among others, are expected to discuss means of optimising the performance of the new, robust contract signed by NFF and NIKE in November 2018. According to thenff.com, "the meetings would also dwell on merchandising, as well as previewing and authorisation of a new kit design for the national teams to be launched in the summer of Year 2020." According to thenff.com, NIKE officials disclosed yesterday that Super Eagles' stars, Alex Iwobi of Arsenal, and Leicester City FC's Wilfred Ndidi, have also been invited to attend the previewing of the design to give player options and suggestions. They added that they are delighted to have Nigeria's Minister of Sports attend the meetings.

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has insisted that Fenerbahce bound winger Victor Moses will not have an automatic shirt if he reverses his decision to retire from the national team. The Chelsea star was the holder of the number 11 shirt before he called time on his international career after the 2018 World Cup in order to focus on his club career. Rohr revealed that the quartet of Samuel Kalu, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa are the players that can be deployed as wingers in the current Super Eagles squad. Speaking on the sidelines of the NPFL match between MFM FC and Rangers, Rohr told reporers: ''Victor Moses is a player with lots of quality but stopped playing for the National team after the World Cup. We have to respect his decision not to play again. ''If he wants to come back to the team, it is okay but he must show a lot of motivation, he must show that he is fit to play for the team because we have other players playing well in his posit