The just concluded European season is an unusual one on many fronts and a big season also for many top Nigerian players.
In the top continental European football event, the UEFA Champions League, top teams crumbled perhaps due to the new format introduced by UEFA. After the first round, it was evident that top teams were struggling but they still managed to play in the final stages.
I am talking about the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern Munich. Liverpool had a good first round but later crumbled while the other struggling teams eventually fell en-route the final.
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Today, Inter Milan will clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the UEFA Champions League. Nobody gave any of these two teams a chance to get to the final. Inter edged out Barca in a 13-goal thriller over two legs while PSG defeated Arsenal home and away 3-1 on aggregate. An exciting and unusual final awaits us all tonight.
In England, it was surprises all the way as the English Premier League defending champions, Manchester City, under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, struggled till the final day to confirm their place in the UCL for next season. Newcastle United also earned a surprise UCL ticket just as the same team won the Carabao Cup competition.
Aston Villa and Notingham Forest from nowhere won tickets to the Europa League and the Conference League respectively in a season which saw Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur among the last three surviving teams in the EPL, finishing in the 15th and 17th positions respectively.
Spurs, only last week, edged Man United in the final of the Europa League. It was their first title in about two decades.
The oldest football competition in the world is the English FA Cup and there was also a surprise winner in Crystal Palace as the team defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the final decided at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
Back home, it was interesting to note that the domestic league ended the same weekend with those of many European leagues. The Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye-led body deserves commendation for achieving this feat even though there is room for improvement in the NPFL.
Super Eagles stars abroad were on fire in the just concluded season. The poster boy of Nigeria for the season is Victor Osimhen, who was very outstanding in the colours of Galasataray of Turkey.
Osimhen led the team to clinch the domestic double of the Turkish Cup and ithe league title. It was awesome for the former African Footballer of the Year who erased club records and also set some other records for himself.
With 35 goals, Osimhen emerged on top of the chart of African players in Europe ahead of Mohamed Salah of Liverpool with 33 goals and Serhou Guirassy. Another Nigerian, Cyriel Dessers, with 28 goals is 4th just as Omar Marmoush who registered 27 goals in all competitions.
It is heartwarming to see three Eagles stars as the highest scorers in three European league. Osimhen emerged in Turkey just as Tolu Arokodare emerged highest scorer in the colours of Genk in Greece and Dessers achieved same feat in the colours of Rangers in the Scottish league.
Alex Iwobi also recorded a number of great stats at his club, Fulham. He played all the 38 matches for his team and also registered nine goals, his career best just as he also recorded 15 assists. Moses Simon played his 200th match for Nantes and maintained his consistency with the French club. Tolu Arokodare was on fire with his Belgian side just as current African footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman, despite the injury concerns this season, scored over 20 goals for Atlanta of Italy as the team again secured a UCL ticket.
I have to stress that Dessers will have to do more in the colours of Nigeria because he has been great at club level.
It is important to at this point think about the kind of agents and managers handling Super Eagles players. There is need for Eagles stars to engage top agents to manage their affairs and take it to the next level. Football is big business and the actors, the footballers, cannot take the decisions alone. After impressive showings in the last season, I’m looking forward to seeing Eagles stars make careers upgrading moves to exciting clubs.
A player under the age of 30 should still be in the main stream of the football market. Eagles stars should for now play to upgrade their careers rather than make early move to teams dangling mouth-watering deals. Eventually, the players will still go for money but a few of them in top form now should move to top teams and aspire to win the FIFA best player award just as Liberian George Weah did in the past.
