Rivers United ranked higher than Swansea, Crystal Palace, Southampton
Wenger: Sanchez, Mkhitaryan deals close
Rivers United have been ranked the best Nigerian club in 2017 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), writes the organization in its latest club world ranking.
The team from Port Harcourt took joint 221st position in the ranking along with CA Boca Juniors, Al Ain FC, Hertha BSC, FK Lokomotiv Tashkent, Panionios FC, São Paulo FC and šK Slovan Bratislava.
Rivers United ranked higher than English Premier League clubs Burnley, Southampton FC, Stoke City FC and Swansea City AFC, Crystal Palace FC and AFC Bournemouth. Arsene Wenger confirms a swap deal with Manchester United involving Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan could still happen this January.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Alexis Sanchez’s move to Manchester United is “likely to happen” in the next 24 hours, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming the other way.
Wenger also confirmed Mkhitaryan’s wages will not be a problem in the potential swap deal and the Armenian is seen as a direct replacement for Sanchez, who is out of contract at Arsenal in the summer.
“I’ve worked on transfers for 30 years so it
Real Madrid are the top team in the world, Gremio the second and Manchester United occupied third position.
Barcelona, PSG, Flamengo, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Red Bull Salzburg complete the top ten in that order.
Four of the top five African clubs are based in North Africa. Al Ahly SC is first followed by Etoile du Sahel, Esperance ST, TP Mazembe and Club Africain.
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the 63rd strongest national league in the world, according to the Lausanne based organization. is likely to happen but any moment things can break down,” Wenger said.
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“That’s how the transfer market is so as long as it’s not over the line you have to accept that it can as well not happen. These kinds of things are never guaranteed.”
When asked whether Mkhitaryan was involved in the deal, Wenger said: “My understanding is yes. The wages would not be a problem.
“Of course [I like him]. If it’s a possibility it’s because I like the player.
More than £350,000 per week and Wenger revealed Arsenal “did the maximum the club could afford” to keep the Chilean. Habu Gumel, President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), on Thursday in Lagos said 10 Nigerian athletes have recently benefitted from the Commonwealth Games scholarship.
Gumel told newsmen that the scholarship which started in 2016 would end in 2018.
“The athletes include Ese Brume (athletics), Praise Idamadudu (athletics), Oluwatobi Amusan (athletics), Caroline Linus (boxing), Loveline Obiji (parapowerlifing) and Chinenye Fidelis (parapowerlifting).
“The rest Paul Kehinde (parapowerlifting), AbdulAzeez Ibrahim (parapowerlifting), Aruna Quadri (table-tennis) and Blessing Oborodudu are (wrestling),” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NOC has also applied for the next phase of Olympic training scholarship.
“This will support some athletes for their training and preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Games,’’ the NOC president said.
Gumel said the NOC was collaborating with The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) to secure scholarships for 15 elites athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.
Nigerian athletes are already in camps preparing for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for the Gold Coast in Australia from April 4 to April 15.