Loan deals to the rescue for Nigerian players

When the transfer window closed in Europe on Tuesday, one thing was clear: most of the Nigerian players were only good enough to make loan moves. Save for Anthony Ujah, Joel Obi, Taiwo Awoniyi and Sylvester Igbonu, who moved to new clubs on specific figures, the rest were either on loan or moved for undisclosed fee.

It would not be the first time Nigerian players would fail to attract big deals in Europe. The last big-money move was when Brown Ideye joined West Brom for a club record of £10m from Dynamo Kyiv in 2014. But despite the investment in him, he could only make 24 appearances for the Baggies, scoring just four goals as at the time he left the club last Monday to join Olympiacos in Greece.

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He initially found West Brom as a place of sanctuary after spending too much time on the bench in Ukraine.

Ideye, 26, had a choice; he could have stayed and continued to be in the reserve team.

But if he must become a striker to be reckoned with, he must get regular playing time, a prerequisite to be in the Super Eagles. His transfer fee was, however, not disclosed when he completed his move to Greece.

Apart from the assurance of a regular playing time, he will also feature in Olympiacos’ campaign in the Champions League.

Ujah, who started his professional career with Warri Wolves, joined Werder Bremen for €4.5m from FC Koln. So far, it is the biggest money move for any Nigerian this term. The closest players are Obi, who left Inter Milan for Torino for €2.4m, and Igbonu, who left Danish club FC Midtjylland to join FC Ufa in Russia for €1.2m.

Igbonu was described by the Russian media as “the most exciting addition so far” to FC Ufa.His transfer fee was a club record for the Russian outfit, and their biggest wage earner.

Junior international, Awoniyi, also joined Liverpool from Imperial Academy in Nigeria for £400,000. He was, however, immediately loaned to German second division side, FSV Frankfurt.

Chelsea ‘big boy, Mikel Obi, was tipped to join Besiktas in Turkey but the deal never materialised. The former Lyn Oslo midfielder has found it difficult to break into Jose Mourinho’s first team, remaining glued to the bench for most of last season.

Mikel has reportedly rejected offers from clubs in the Middle East but Mourinho has yet to find him worthy of being in the first team.

Reports in Turkey say Mourinho is responsible for Mikel’s woes as an agent claim the Portuguese frustrated the player’s proposed deadline day move to Turkey.

A Turkish football agent MesrunIzzet told local station Radyospor that Chelsea’s failure to lure Paul Pogba from Juventus forced Mourhinho to retain Mikel

“Besiktas had initially agreed terms with Chelsea and Mikel but Mourinho blocked the deal at the last minute,” Izzet said.

Mikel’s teammate, Victor Moses, on his part, agreed to a loan move to West Ham United rather than be regarded as surplus to requirement at Stamford Bridge. Moses may appear to be getting used to the loan business following his brilliant performances at Liverpool and Stoke City in the last two seasons.

Former international, Victor Agali, has blamed some of the players for their continued bench roles at their respective clubs. He was particularly critical of Mikel’s situation.

“There’s a saying that states ‘who wears the shoe knows where it pinches’. If I was in their shoes, I would not stay back at Chelsea,” Agali said.

“When I had the opportunity of staying at Marseille (but looked like I was going to stay on the bench), I opted out and went to Sporting Toulon, which was a lower division club. I went there to prove myself and in 38 games, I scored 15 goals.

“That projected me and endeared me to other clubs, because after that, Hansa Rostock came forward to sign me, and from there I joined Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.

“Sometimes, you have to fall in order to go higher in life. I expected Mikel, being a very talented player, a strong midfielder, to have more playing time.

“I have no doubt about Mikel’s ability, but he is not doing himself any favour by staying at Chelsea.

“Victor Moses is also a very good player. You can always predict he would make good passes whenever he has the ball. But he lacked playing time at Chelsea, so his move to West Ham is a good one, as long as he gets playing time.

“But I don’t understand why they all want to stay in London; they can still play good football elsewhere in Europe and make good money, and have good lives.”

Igbonu’s former teammate at FC Midtjylland, Izunna Uzochukwu, joined Russian club Amkar Perm on a free transfer, while striker Emmanuel Emenike left Fenerbahce to join UAE club Al Ain on a loan deal.

Ideye’s former teammate at Dynamo Kyiv, Lukman Haruna, also went in search of regular playing time in Russia as he joined Anzhi Makhachkala on loan in the summer.

The four of them are currently in the Super Eagles squad facing Tanzania in Dar es Salaam today.

While Chelsea youngsters, Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke have joined Watford and Vitesse Arnhem on loan deals respectively, former Newcastle hitman Shola Ameobi is currently without a club after Crystal Palace released him. Ameobi joined Palace on a free transfer in January and made just four appearances.

His brother, Sammy Ameobi, also left Newcastle to join Cardiff on loan just as Chuba Akpom went on loan to Hull City to team up with Sone Aluko in the championship.