LONELY

Zidane confirmed he was leaving Real Madrid today, announcing the decision in an emotional press conference. The decision has sent shockwaves reverberating around the footballing world, with Real now expected to chase Mauricio Pochettino as his replacement. Express Sport understands Zidane has cited exhaustion as a reason for his Real Madrid exit. But Spanish outlet Don Balon say Manchester United actually influenced his thinking. It is said he met Perez face to face where they outlined a plan for the future.

Manchester United have reportedly been knocked back with a bid of £80million for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. That's according to an article on Il Bianconero, which says United are among a host of clubs interested in signing the highly-rated Serbia international. The €91million offer made by United is also reported to have included a 10% sell-on clause but even that wasn't enough to convince Lazio to sell their star man. Meanwhile, Arturo Vidal, who United have been repeatedly linked with in recent years, has opened the door to a possible Bayern Munich exit. His contract with the Bavarian giants will expire next summer. "At this moment everyone knows that I have one year left with Bayern, I am very calm, I know what I am worth, I know when I have to play important matches who I am and that is why there are so many offers when the market opens," Vidal is quoted as saying by Metro. "This time I’m going to take it easy, my representative Fernando

Roman Abramovich has reportedly scrapped £1billion plans to redevelop Chelsea’s stadium — because ‘he is unwilling to invest in a country where he can’t work’. The Russian billionaire, 51, has also revoked his own visa application as he is tired of waiting for one, according to reports. Met Office upgrades weather warning to amber for 48 hours of thunder and lightning He has been forced to seek Israeli citizenship to regain entry to the UK as part of the country’s response to the Salisbury nerve attack in March. Now Mr Abramovich, who is worth £9.3billion, is said to have dropped plans to upgrade Stamford Bridge as he is unwilling to invest £1billion into a country in which he is no longer permitted to work. The businessman has reportedly quit his visa request (Picture: Sandra Mailer/REX/Shutterstock) And his 40-month visa expired in April, which forced him to miss Chelsea’s FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United. Israeli sources claim the steel and oil magnate ripped up his visa

Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta joined Japan’s Vissel Kobe on Thursday, the club’s owner Hiroshi Mikitani said, describing him as a “world-class” player. “I am pleased to announce today that Andres Iniesta will be signing up to play with Vissel Kobe after his historic career at FC Barcelona,” Mikitani told reporters in Tokyo.

A facebook User Marshall Francis Okwy wrote on his time line: SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY VERY HAPPY THAT SECURITY IS VERY TIGHT IN AWKA YET THE CAN’T PROTECT LIFE OF THE CITIZENS. WE UNDERSTAND THEY WERE INVITED TO CONTINUE THE KILLING OF OUR PEOPLE WHICH WE THOUGHT ENDED AFTER THE BIAFRA WAR. YESTERDAY IN AWKA THIS YOUNG BOY WAS MURDERED BY SOME UNKNOWN GUN MEN . AWKA CITIZENS ARE CRYING TO FOR SECURITY IN THAT STATE YET WE HEARD THAT SOLDIERS IN AWKA NOW IS MORE THAN THE PEOPLE COMING FOR THE SUMMIT. I WONDER WHAT THEY WENT THERE FOR. ( I don’t care who he is , what if the bullet hits another innocent person) NO SECURITY

An Imo state governorship aspirant on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Pascal Ikenna Ejiogu, has gone Wakanda style with his billboard to share his manifesto to the Imolites.

Dear Sir, I write this letter to you, Mr. President, with all sincerity and humility, as it is my very first letter to you since your emergence as President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of our great country, Nigeria. I would first of all like to use this opportunity to formally apologise to the immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for all the tantrums and mistreatment orchestrated by me against his person while he held sway at the helm of affairs of our great country. Indeed, I and many others may have misunderstood Jonathan's silence for weakness and thus pushed harder to malign his person and portray him as a weak leader. Having achieved the Change Agenda, it is now crystal clear, that the change we had clamoured for is not the change we got. While this may have come as a rude shock to some of us who preached the change mantra assiduously, particularly the youth, I am consoled by the fact that, Nigeria shall get to the promise land

The 60 dioceses that make up the Roman Catholic community in Nigeria have concluded plans to hold a nationwide protest on May 22, 2018, following a directive by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Dr Alfred Adewale Martins, stated this in an interaction with newsmen last Sunday, to mark the 2018 World Communication Day at Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos Island. He said the march was to protest the killings of priests and worshippers in Benue State, as well as the general insecurity in the country. According to him, the dioceses will hold a requiem Mass for the two slain priests to coincide with their interment in Makurdi, Benue State. “After the requiem Mass, each diocese will hold a solemn protest to demonstrate the church’s displeasure with the Federal Government over the killing of innocent Nigerians. Here in Lagos Archdiocese, the archbishop and priests will lead other lay faithful on a protest march from St. Leo’s C

A Facebook user Ibeh Franklin Kennedy on his time line wrote "When you try to show them what the man that hates them is doing at their door steps, they raise their hateful bigoted voices that's now a culture. Go and see yourself what's happening on Enugu/Onitsha express, ENUGU/PH, dualization of Aba/Owerri and Owerri/Ph, Second Niger bridge, East/West Rd etc. The speed on those abandoned projects are encouraging, it shows nothing but love. It's time we open our eyes and see what Buhari led govt is accomplishing, he is a great President, quit hating and see the truth."

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Muslim leaders to unite and confront Israel, days after scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers as they marked 70 years of Israeli occupation. Speaking at an extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday, Erdogan said Israel should be held accountable over the killings which drew widespread international condemnation and triggered a wave of protests from Asia, through the Middle East, to North Africa. "To take action for Palestinians massacred by Israeli bandits is to show the whole world that humanity is not dead," Erdogan told the group of Muslim leaders gathered in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul. The Turkish president described Israel's killing of Palestinians as "thuggery, atrocity and state terror," and said the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital would inevitably haunt it. 'US part of the problem' On

The crises rocking the Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) continued to fester, as the group loyal to Governor Rochas Okorocha has resolved to boycott the state congress holding today. Secretary of the party, Obioma Iroagu, who dropped the hint to reporters at the National Secretariat in Abuja, justified their position saying it was based on an injunction issued by an Imo Federal high Court on the 18th of this month presided by justice Lewes Alagoa ordering the stoppage of the congress. Iroagu explained that the resolve to approach the court to wade into the mater was premised on the fact that his group had lost confidence in the leadership of the Party led by chief John Odigie-Oyegun. Flanked officials of the stage government, he maintained that the ward and local government congresses was marred by illigalities, fraud, and deception.

National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Muiz Banire, in this interview by the Saturday Tribune crew, consisting of LANRE ADEWOLE, SEGUN KASALI AND SYLVESTER OKORUWA shoots straight from the hips, speaking on issues affecting the ruling party and governance matters. Well, the problem is that when you give suggestions and people, for selfish reason and out of mischief at times, decide to cast it aside, the result we are experiencing now is what you get. Those who are experienced in this game will know that there are hardly any ways you can run a congress that will be rancour-free and you do not endanger the goal or the objective of your party when it is close to the general elections. It is never advisable and the good news is that, hiding under the constitutional provision of the APC and also the interpretation already given to it in the case of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), you have a way of protecting yourself strategic

The federal government on Wednesday approved the transfer of about $650 million (about N198.9 billion) to the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as initial funding for the take -off of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF). The National Economic Council (NEC) announced the establishment of the Fund and the disbursement of the disbursement of the initial funding at the end of its meeting in Abuja. The establishment of the PIDF was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari who presided over the meeting. Details released by NEC showed that the PIDF would be managed by the NSIA. The fund is expected to be invested in critical road and power projects across the country. The initial transfer of $650 million to the NSIA was authorised from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A statement from the NSIA said the initiative was aimed at eliminating the risks of project funding, cost variation and completio

President Muhammadu Buhari has once again expressed his administration’s commitment to end every act of killing in the country. The globally recognized first President in Africa who earned the sobriquet from the United States President, Donald Trump made re—affirmed his commitment to the safety of lives and properties in Nigeria after receiving briefing from the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General TY Buratai at the state house this evening. President Buhari who commended the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff in aligning with his vision on security, took to his official Facebook page to express his position of the efforts of the Nigerian Army. The Chief of Army Staff on his part said that the Nigerian Army will continue to collaborate with other security agencies to carry out all the directives of the Commander -in- Chief to achieve strategic objectives of the Nigerian government. “So, that is essentially why we had to deploy a battalion of soldiers to Birnin Gwari, Kaduna Sta

All may not have been heard about the 661 pump-action riffles that were unlawfully imported into the country in January 2017 through the Lagos port. While the accused persons have been arraigned in court and the case ongoing, one of the dramatis personae in the case, Donatus Achinulo who has been refused bail by Justice Ayokunle Faji in view of the charges leveled against him and his co-defendants is having a field day and living like a Lord in Ikoyi Prisons. IGBERE TV Investigators have discovered a lot of rot in the running of Ikoyi Prisons, one of which is a serious security breach in the Ikoyi Prisons Security Network, in connivance with DCP Tolu Ogunsakin. Investigations reveal that Donatus Achinulo who is currently standing trial and detained in Ikoyi Prisons was the one that installed the new CCTV electronics system in the prison thereby giving him and his boys access to monitor the entire prison security system. He, Donatus also provided free Walkie-Talkies to Prison Warders,

No fewer than 15 Boko Haram fighters have been killed by the military and rescued 49 women and children in Borno state. The Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that the incidents took place in separate encounters between Boko Haram and troops in the Southern Lake Chad Basin. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Deputy Director Public Relations Theatre Command Operation Lafiya Dole, said a statement issued in Maiduguri that some of the insurgents were killed in the Lake Chad Island while others were neutralised in villages in Northern Borno on Tuesday. “Troops dislodged the insurgents from their hideout after a fierce battle, killing 11 insurgents in Gomaran village of Southern Lake Chad Basin”, he said. He explained that the troops also ambushed and killed four terrorists who were escaping from the military onslaught in Northern Borno. Nwachukwu said that the troops further engaged fleeing insurgents in Firgi and Moula, both in Bama and Dikwa council. “The clearance operations also led to t

Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto has declared Thursday as the first day for the beginning of the Ramadan fasting in Nigeria. Abubakar made the announcement after citing the new crescent in Sokoto on Wednesday in a broadcast. He said the new moon was sighted in various places across the country that including Sokoto, Niger, Yobe, Port Harcourt, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa and other areas. The Sultan said “After due verification and authentication by the national moon sighting committee and states committees’ confirmation, as well as routine scrutiny, the sighting of the new moon of Ramadan signifies the end of Sha’aban 1439 AH. “In accordance with Islamic law, Muslim Ummah are to commence fasting on Thursday accordingly. “All Muslims should devote themselves fully to the worship of Allah throughout the holy month, and use the period to pray for the progress, peace and prosperity of the nation. “We further called on Nigerians to continue to live peacefully with one anoth

The Man Utd fans in the Transfer Tavern are desperate for Jose Mourinho to end the campaign with a trophy. In Jose Mourinho’s first season last year, the Red Devils picked up a few pieces of silverware, but their campaign has been markedly less successful this term. That being said, they’ve grown in the Premier League, and for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, they finished second in the English top flight. An FA Cup win, then, would cap things off nicely. Mourinho, though, must pick the right team to counter Chelsea, who on their day are an impressive offensive and defensive outfit. Below, using buidlineup.com, we’ve detailed the team that we think Mourinho should select to hand a blow to his rival Antonio Conte on Saturday. Between the sticks, David De Gea is a natural and obvious choice. He’s been the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season by some distance, and it’s fair to say that if he has a bad day, Man Utd could seriously struggle – particularly

The dire need to let Biafrans understand what is playing out internationally base on my presumption, forced me into writing this work. All is not well for Nigeria as she is in terrible condition that her rate of survivalhood is on discouraging rate. Buhari like other Nigeria leaders of Northern extraction did hoped in great Britain for sustainability of Nigeria false union. Internationally, Britain has been playing this noble role for her useless child in expense of Nigeria oil. It was same Britain that has been marketing and drafting Nigeria foreign policies as the later only stands where Britain stands internationally. Surprisingly, there arose a man named Nnamdi Kanu in pre David Cameron and Barack Obama global system. To me, that was the greatest risk taking by IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu, to emerged in such risky international system that was anti Israel, pro one Nigeria and of course anti Biafra. In line with his accurate predictions and discretion, David Cameron disappeared, Obama exi

ABUJA— IPOB members The group, in a statement that was signed by its lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said its attention was drawn to “desperate strategies” being put in place to eliminate three pro-Biafra agitators hitherto facing trial with their ‘missing’ leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu. The statement read: “Our attention was this morning drawn to desperate strategies being put in place by some faceless prison official in Kuje Prison at the command of the state to kill Benjamin Madubugwu, Bright Chimezie and David Nwawuisi. “A distress call received from Benjamin Madubugwu vide Welfare Department Office of Kuje Prison this morning, called for immediate attention of the international community, United Nations, European Union and responsible international organisations. “From the account given over the telephone, Benjamin Madubugwu narrated to us how he and other two IPOB members (Bright Chimezie and David Nwawuisi) have been singled out and consequently subjected to various forms of inhuman tr

Arsenal are reportedly lining up a £53m deal to sign defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli this summer. The Gunners face a summer of change with Arsene Wenger stepping down as manager after 22 years following a campaign which has seen them post their lowest finish and lowest points tally under the Frenchman. Arsenal ended the season with the worst defensive record in the top seven and their own highest number of goals conceded since 1983-84, and so have been looking for defensive reinforcements to bolster their back line next term. The Express reports that the club have identified centre-back Koulibaly as an ideal option to shore up the heart of their defence, which has also been left weakened by a long-term injury to Laurent Koscielny and the retirement of Per Mertesacker. However, Arsenal would face stiff competition for the signature of Koulibaly, who has also been linked with Chelsea and Barcelona. The North London outfit are otherwise understood to be considering a move for

The Liverpool front-man scored as Liverpool dominated Brighton & Hove Albion FC in the final round of the English Premier League to claim the competition’s Golden Boot. Salah managed to break another record but this time on Fantasy Premier League for getting the most points to his name in a single season with 303 points. He has surpassed ex-Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez who got 295 points in the 2013/2014 season, Frank Lampard’s 284 points in 2009/2010 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007/2008. Alongside claiming the Golden Boot, Salah became the highest scoring player for a 38-game Premier League campaign scoring 32 goals breaking a record jointly held by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez with 31 goals. He collected his FPL points not only due to the goals he has scored but also to the ones he assisted, as the Pharaoh managed 10 assists in the Premier League this campaign more than any Liverpool player.

Antonio Conte insists the FA Cup final will not be his final game in charge of Chelsea, but warned his players they “don’t have a chance” if there is a repeat of their performance against Newcastle. Chelsea were thrashed 3-0 by Newcastle on an afternoon which they began with the potential to overtake Liverpool into fourth, but meekly ended the campaign outside the Champions League places, having won the Premier League last season. Conte’s future is uncertain, but he still has the FA Cup final against Manchester United on Saturday to end the season with a trophy. Asked directly if the FA Cup final will be his last match in charge, Conte replied: “No, I don’t think. For this season, for sure. Now to play the last game, an FA Cup, then as you know very well, I’m repeating always the same thing, I’m committed for this club and for me I support on this. ” Uncertain of selection The Italian, who has one year remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge, has rotated his squad aggressively in

The Egyptian has had an incredible debut season, scoring 43 goals in all competitions for Jurgen Klopp's side. His form has seen Salah emerge as a strong contender for this year's Ballon d'Or, reports the Liverpool Echo. However, Salah believes he's not yet in the same bracket as Messi and Ronaldo. "I don’t want to say I am happy with these kind of comparisons," Salah told Egyptian TV channel ON E. "Each of them has been at the top level for 10 or 11 years. Their performance level is stable. "I need to maintain my performance levels high for many seasons. I hope I can do that. They are great players and hopefully I become happy with these comparisons." Asked to pick the three best players he has ever seen, Salah went for Zinedine Zidane, Brazilian striker Ronaldo and Francesco Totti.Salah was just six years old when Zidane won the World Cup with France in 1998. The Liverpool star will come face to face with him in Kiev later this month wh