Transfer deadline day: Mbappé, Sánchez, Gomes, Rabiot

  Man City are still pursuing Sanchez, Arsenal in turn bidding for Lemar, and what's going to happen to Coutinho, van Dijk, Costa, Mbappe and Mahrez?

The transfer window is almost over but clubs are tussling to complete their final deals before tonight's 11pm deadline.

Liverpool unveiled Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain today after winning a tug-of-war with Chelsea.

Spurs have confirmed a deal for PSG's Serge Aurier while Swansea have loaned Renato Sanches from Bayern.

There's some massive deals still in the air with Man City still pursuing Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal in turn bidding for Monaco's Thomas Lemar.

And what's going to happen to Philippe Coutinho, Virgil van Dijk, Diego Costa, Kylian Mbappe and Riyad Mahrez?

Follow all the latest news, rumours and done deals here.

Barcelona to unveil Coutinho Friday as Liverpool accept €160m fee

 

  Rumours swirling round the potential move of Liverpool’s defender, Philippe Coutinho, continues with reports from Europe claiming Liverpool have accepted a €160m fee for the Brazillian.

Yahoo Sport are now claiming that Coutinho, 25, has been told on international duty that Reds owners Fenway Sports Group have finally accepted his request to leave.

Reports further claimed that The Reds have asked the Nou Camp bosses to delay the completion of the deal, in order for them to find a replacement, with Thomas Lemar or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the favourites.

FG to deploy 50,000 non-graduate N-Power volunteers

  No fewer than 50,000 non-graduate applicants in the N-Power volunteer programme would be deployed in late September and trained in October, the Presidential aide on job creation and youth empowerment, Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, has said.

Imoukhuede on Tuesday in Abuja said that the deployment was delayed to enable the job creation team to provide all needed training materials for the volunteers.

He explained that the volunteers would be deployed to begin three-month vocational training in seven disciplines followed by a nine-month apprenticeship in related industries before venturing into self-employment.

He said that September deployment was because officials had mapped the volunteers who applied in 2016 to go to the various centres for physical verification to ensure that those in existing N-Power scheme were removed.

The church and society

   Why is it that the Church in Nigeria does not appear to be engaged in any significant manner with some of the most important challenges confronting our nation? Most Nigerians will agree that Nigeria has been held down by deep-seated corruption, in government and the private sector; the will of the majority is being subverted by an unrepresentative democracy; society is held captive by an unenlightened and rapacious elite; and the vast majority of people are victims of social injustice particularly poverty, oppression, insecurity and abusive use of power.
Every other national problem in my view can be traced to these fundamental causes. Corruption is at the root of our infrastructure deficiency, particularly power and transportation-appropriations get into private accounts rather than deliver power stations, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and rural infrastructure. Corruption is at the root of the violent struggle for power and election rigging that destroys our democracy-if public office were about service and sacrifice, we would struggle to find enough people interested in them to fill all the offices we have created in our constitution. Corruption means that police men and military men are so poor and angry that they take out their frustrations on innocent citizens and civilians.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Beats Conor McGregor with 10th Round TKO

  Floyd Mayweather Jr., the face of boxing for more than a decade, punctuated a stellar yet controversial career with a technical knockout over U.F.C. champ and first-time boxer Conor McGregor on Saturday night.

In the 10th round of a surprisingly competitive fight, Mayweather backed McGregor onto the ropes with a series of rights and lefts. McGregor’s face was completely bloodied. He was about to fall through the ropes, and the referee stepped in to stop the fight with 1:55 remaining in the round.

“I gave the fans what they wanted to see,” Mayweather said after the fight. “I told them that I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I must come straight ahead and give them a show.”

The victory improved Mayweather’s record to 50-0, and allowed the typically defensive fighter to say farewell in thrilling fashion in what he said was his last fight. It also proved right the naysayers who said that this fight was nothing more than a glorified, money-making exhibition.

Mayweather said the fight was not going to go the distance, and he delivered on that promise. Things went just the way that most pundits said they would. McGregor would have no way of connecting cleanly with Mayweather. He landed a few touch punches but nothing solid the entire fight. And given that U.F.C. fights are much shorter than boxing matches, McGregor’s stamina was in question. And he certainly seemed to tire in the late rounds as Mayweather made easy work of him.

Malta Guinness announces First Set of Winners in the ”Go Get It” Promo | Hurry Now & Become a Winner Too

   Over fifty thousand (50,000) winners have emerged from the Malta Guinness “Go Get It” National Consumer promo which was launched on Tuesday, the August 8th, 2017.

Two millionaires and six winners of One Hundred Thousand naira (N100,000) each have emerged in the Malta Guinness “Go Get It!” promo. Winners were selected during the weekly draws that were held on Saturday, August 5th and Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017. Over 200 winners of N5,000 cash prizes have also emerged from the daily cash prizes and millions of airtime also given away since the kick off of the promo.

Malta Guinness will be rewarding its consumers with a share of N100,000,000 in the “Go Get It” Promo billed to last until Monday, November 6th, 2017. With every purchase of Malta Guinness variants (Classic and Herbs Lite), consumers stand a chance to win amazing daily and weekly cash and airtime prizes.

The winners from the first two weekly draws were awe-struck with excitement when they were contacted with the news of their winnings via telephone. One of the N100, 000 Winners, Abiodun Kamaru from Badagry couldn’t believe his luck when he was informed of his winnings by the Malta Guinness Team.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic back at Manchester United with a new number, same attitude

  Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back at Manchester United. The club announced on Thursday that the veteran striker has penned a one-year deal with the club, and he'll take over Wayne Rooney's No. 10 jersey.
The 35-year-old played for United last season but was injured in April and was not re-signed.
Now he comes back quicker than expected and joins an attack that also features Romelu Lukaku. United has six points from two matches in the Premier League and is also in the Champions League this campaign. Ibrahimovic scored 28 goals last season for the Red Devils.
And he's ready to get back to it. Just look at this Twitter photo depicting himself as God, as only Zlatan would do.

Now, it remains to be seen how he'll fit into this squad with Lukaku the starting No. 9. But if Jose Mourinho can get both of these on the pitch and gelling, look out. 

Check out the 2017/18 Champions League group stage draw in

  The 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw has been made in Monaco today, with highlights including Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea v Atlético, Juventus v Barcelona and Real Madrid v Dortmund.

Tottenham will battle it out with holders Real Madrid in group H alongside Borussia Dortmund and Apoel.

It means Gareth Bale will face his former club and Premier League runners-up Tottenham which he left for a then world-record deal in 2013 for the very first time.

Premier League champions Chelsea have been drawn to play Atletico Madrid, Roma and Qarabag in Group C, and Europa League winners Manchester United face Benfica, Basel and CSKA Moscow in Group A.

VCs, ASUU reject 120 cut-off mark for varsity admission

   SOME Vice-Chancellors and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have rejected the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to peg admission cut-off mark at 120 for universities and 100 for polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education.

ASUU said the action, which it described as a “sad policy decision,” was in tandem “with the dream of the present government to destroy public universities in the country.”
H
HMost of the vice-chancellors our correspondents interviewed on the issue maintained that they would not lower admission standards in their respective varsities.

The vice-chancellors stated that the decision would add no value to the nation’s university system.

For instance, in a statement issued by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, on the issue and released by his Media Assistant, Mr. Sunday Saanu, on Thursday,  the premier university stated that it would never admit any candidate that scored 120 in the UTME.

Alter Ego : “The Lawyer with a Split Personality”

  Alter Ego has made a lot of rounds in the cinema especially because it saw the comeback of one of Nollywood’s finest Omotola Jolade Ekehinde. Not just was she on our screens again, she played a totally different Omotola from the sweet, conservative one we were all used to.  Her fans as well as movie critics were glad to have her back. In fact it’s safe to say, her presence in the movie drove the traffic.

Produced by Moses Inyang, Alter Ego saw Ada Igwe (Omotola) as a famous lawyer who owned her own law firm, she was specialized in fighting for your girls and women who were victims of rape and sexual harassment and had no money to pay for the services of a lawyer. Ada would take up their case and would stop at nothing till they got their expected victory. She was driven by a special zeal and motivation which no one could really understand as it wasn’t about the money but the selflessness and hope she gave to the girls. Of course, until we found out why she actually really hated men.

Thanks to previous sexual abuses, all she wanted was to sleep around and never have anything serious to do with these opposite gender, until a successful, hardworking, charming man, Wole, came her way. As you know all that glitters isn’t gold and he gave Ada sleepless nights and a run for her career.

Mixed reactions trail varsity admission’s cut-off mark

  Mixed reactions have trailed the decision of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, to peg the minimum cut-off mark for admissions into universities at 120.

Most Nigerians decried the reduction in the cut-off describing it as `too low a requirement for admission’ into the university.

Mr. Ettu Ahmed, an Educationist, said that the pegging of the cut-off to 120 would encourage laziness and lower the standard of education in the country.

“Rather than lower it to 120, JAMB management should have used 180 as the cut-off, judging from the number of those who scored 200 and above.

“JAMB’s decision to reduce the cut-off to such a mark could have a multiplier effect on the already lower standard of education in the country,’’ he said.

Netherlands has swapped Visa Issuance in Nigeria with French & Belgian Missions – Official

  The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, on Tuesday reminded Nigerians that it is no longer in the business of issuing them visas.

The Embassy’s Charge d’ Affaires, Michel Deleen, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the Embassy had since 2013 swapped its visa issuance processes in Nigeria.

Deleen said that the Embassy had since 2013 swapped its visas issuance to Nigerians with the French Consulate-General in Lagos and the Embassy of Belgium in Abuja.

“Let me remind Nigerians that since 2013, the Embassy of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands in Nigeria had signed agreements with the French
Consulate-General in Lagos and the Embassy of Belgium in Abuja.

“What this means is that we have swapped our visa application
processes in Nigeria with the French Consulate-General in Lagos and
the Embassy of Belgium in Abuja.

CWG inaugurates innovation hub

  Leading technology solution provider, CWG Plc, has launched Innovation Hub to deliver efficient technological solutions to its clients.

The Chief Executive Officer, CWG, Mr. James Agada, said the Innovation Hub was significant to the growth and overall development of the company.

He spoke during the opening of the facility at the company’s headquarters at Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos.

According to Agada, since the company develops its own technological solutions, it is paramount to have a facility that will guarantee the speedy development of the solutions to its numerous clients.

The CWG boss said the transformation would allow the company to be the master of its own destiny.

$12,000 up for Grabs as Chamberlain Squash Open Begins

   The maiden Chamberlain Squash Open (CSO), which kicked off at the weekend in Lagos is set to chart a new frontier for the game in the country.
Sponsor of the event, Chamberlain Usoh, who spoke at the weekend during a media parley in Lagos, said that he has full confidence in the leadership of new President of the federation, Boye Oyerinde, to take squash to fresh heights.
He revealed that about $12,000 will be up for grabs at the tournament which will feature both local and international players.
According to Osoh, one of the key reasons for sponsoring the championship, he revealed, is to ensure that more Nigerians get ranked in the Professional Squash Association (PSA), ranking.
In his remarks, Oyerinde, thanked the sponsors for finding squash as a veritable sport for sponsorship and assured him and other stakeholders in the sport that they will not be disappointed with their investment.

10 major events while Buhari was away

   BUKOLA BAKARE writes about the 10 most significant things that took place in the country while President Muhammadu Buhari went on a medical trip to the United Kingdom on May 7 and returned August 19

ASUU Strike

While the President was away, the Academic Staff Union of Universities embarked on an indefinite strike on August 13 to protest the non-payment of their outstanding salaries and other issues emanating from the 2009 agreement it had with the Federal Government. The university teachers complained that the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013 has not been fully implemented.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had in January inaugurated a 16-man committee to look into the agreement. The committee, headed by Mr. Wale Babalakin, was given the mandate to dialogue with ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and other relevant bodies, to engender sustainable peace and industrial harmony in tertiary institutions.

ASUU’s National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, had noted that the Babalakin-led committee set up by the  government lacked the capacity to resolve the contending issues in the agreement.

Ogunyemi stated that the government had ignored the system, claiming that the political class send their children to private universities abroad, because public universities are in poor condition.

I’m disappointed Klitschko retired –Joshua

  World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua says Wladimir Klitschko’s decision to retire and decline a rematch was a “massive” disappointment, BBC Sport reports.

Briton Joshua, 27, knocked out Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in April and had hoped they would fight again in Las Vegas on November 11.

However, the Ukrainian, 41, announced his retirement earlier this month.

“In my heart of hearts I kind of knew he probably wouldn’t fight again,” said Joshua.

Klitschko’s nine-year reign as lineal world heavyweight champion was ended by Britain’s Tyson Fury in 2015 before he failed to regain the IBF and WBA titles in the 11th round defeat by Joshua.

RCCG GO, Adeboye visits President Buhari in London

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Friday visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Abuja House, London.

Buhari has been receiving medical attention in the British capital since May 7.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, posted two photographs taken during Adeboye’s visit on his Facebook page.

In one of the pictures, Buhari and his visitor were seated on a sofa while he was scanning through a book which is suspected to be from the religious leader.

A bag which appeared to have been used to take the book to the President was placed in between Buhari and Adeboye.

I saw President Muhammadu Buhari Estate

  Last week, I saw the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate located on the outskirt of the main Abeokuta town in Ogun State and I couldn’t but ask myself in Egba “Se kosi? I translate: Is everything okay? The estate is not a new project so I apologise for my tardiness in just reacting to it publicly and whilst we are at it, let me also apologise for guiltily failing to visit my darling Abeokuta for such a long time. As I have discovered and as we shall soon see, there are however bigger misdemeanours than failing to visit Abeokuta regularly.

The sight of these 50 hectares of land in Kobape Abeokuta, with its exterior painted in the colours of the Nigerian flag and the construction of a residential estate sponsored by the Ogun State Government or better still the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has made me ask myself a question I have often asked: What is wrong with us as a people? The spectacle of this yet-to-be-completed President Muhammadu Buhari Estate has reaffirmed in me the conviction that for us to be truly civil free citizens, we as a people, need to sit down to rationally analyse the powers of politicians and indeed all public office holders, find ways to make those that wield such powers accurately accountable and indeed find ways to curtail all public and political powers.

Cristiano Ronaldo-less Real Madrid crush Barcelona to win Spanish Super Cup

  Real Madrid shrugged off the absence of the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo to cruise past rivals Barcelona 2-0 in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup to cap a 5-1 aggregate win.

Ronaldo was slapped with a five-game ban for pushing the referee after he was sent off in the first leg, but his replacement Marco Asensio enhanced his reputation as one of world football’s rising stars as he smashed Madrid into the lead after just four minutes.

Karim Benzema then deservedly doubled Real’s lead before half-time.

Barca responded with a more spirited second-half showing and were unfortunate not to at least pull a goal back as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez hit the woodwork.

Victory continues Madrid’s run of success under Zinedine Zidane with the European champions now having lifted seven trophies in the 20 months since the Frenchman took charge.

Trump sacks Nigeria’s Ogunlesi as adviser

                         
 Nigerian born international CEO, Adebayo Ogunlesi has now ceased to be an adviser to embattled US President Donald Trump. Trump sacked him today along with other distinguished CEOs counselling him via two councils on how to “Make America Great Again”.

Trump sacked Ogunlesi on Twitter, when  he announced the dissolution of two business advisory councils, in one fell swoop.

Ogunlesi was a member of  the Strategic and Policy Forum, one of the two disbanded by the unpredictable president. The other group was the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative Council.

Ogunlesi, heads Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm and one of Fortune 500 companies. He was  the only African on the panel.

Buhari’s reunion with his media team by Reuben Abati

  I was really excited on Saturday when I received news of the eventual visit of President Muhammadu Buhari’s media team to him in London. I had always felt that the exclusion of the media team from the London medical vacation and the various visits practically undermined the Presidential media office, and created the space for the mismanagement of the communication process around and about the President’s illness.



I could never have imagined my own boss in our time, travelling without me or shutting me out of any important event. He took my team everywhere. Every President has what is called a Main Body. This comprises his first line of assistants, namely his Chief Security Officer, Aide-de-Camp, Chief Detail, Chief Physician, State Chief of Protocol, Personal Assistant (Luggage), Personal Assistant (Private matters), and of course, the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity)/Official Spokesperson.

News about N75k payment per former Corps Member is Fake – NYSC

  Bose Aderibigbe, Director of Press, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has alerted the public through a statement on Saturday to disregard what she describes as false online news about the activities of the service.

She said that some bloggers had also used a Facebook account that did not belong to the service to promote falsehood on its activities.

According to her, the online news claims that the NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure has introduced a portal for payment of N75, 000 stipends per a former corps member which is false.

The attention of the NYSC management has been drawn to the publication which is false and misleading, the public should disregard it. A fake Facebook account, NYSC Online, has also been spreading the content published by some bloggers.

We further wish to inform our esteemed stakeholders that the so-called NYSC Online is not the official Facebook page of the National Youth Service Corps.

The authentic information from the NYSC’s activities can be accessed through our official Facebook page on www.facebook.com/officialnysc’’, Aderibigbe said.

Arsenal beat Leicester 4-3 in thrilling opener

  Arsenal staged a dramatic fightback to kick off the new Premier League season with a thrilling 4-3 victory against Leicester on Friday.

Arsene Wenger’s side scored twice in the last 10 minutes as Aaron Ramsey equalised before Olivier Giroud bagged the winner at the Emirates Stadium.

Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal an early lead before Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy put Leicester ahead.

Danny Welbeck levelled for Arsenal, but Vardy’s second goal looked to have won it for Leicester until the sensational finale.

Vehicle smuggling booms on back of punitive national auto-policy

  As prices of motor cars skyrocket on the back of the punitive tariffs, the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) of 2013 and a weaker naira, the business of smuggling cars from Benin Republic is once more booming.
The NAIDP plan of 2013 was meant to grow the volume of locally assembled vehicles by raising tariffs on imported cars but this has so far failed to happen. Instead, the number of vehicles smuggled through the land borders has continued to grow, BusinesssDay has learnt. Demand for smuggled cars has gone up because it is cheaper than imported “Tokunbo” cars which come through Nigeria’s seaports.
Consequently, the volume of vehicles imported through the seaports has remained low, as importers prefer to buy cars from Cotonou because it is cheaper to clear imported vehicles at the land borders, compared to the sea ports.
Benin Republic, sensing the opportunity in Nigeria’s punitive imported auto tariffs, on July 1, reduced the sum charged on transit vehicles from the Cotonou port from CFA399, 920 (N257, 000) to CFA290, 000 (N186, 000).

“10 Days in Sun City”, Akpos’ South African Adventure

  Ayo Makun, popularly known as AY played major roles in his new block buster movie “10 days in Sun City“. He played the role of the producer as well as the lead character in this new movie. Over the years AY has produced very hilarious Nigerian movies ranging from 10 days in Atlanta, a trip to Jamaica and now this 2017 hit.
The obvious facts for most of his movies have being the calibre of cast and crew, the story line and script, the words and slang used all through and a particular “Warri Slang” that later becomes the slogan or key highlight of the movie. For this edition two outstanding slang in the movie was an insult which was formerly known as “your father” but now referred to as “Your real Dad” and the one he used to refer to Agbani Darego which he explained meant that “Agbani don reign go”.
The most important thing for me when I watch a movie is the story line and the lessons learnt. What exactly can be taken from the movie. Despite it being funny and hilarious to majority of the people in the cinema that night, most of us didn’t quite get the story-line or take home any lesson.
Well apart from AY, our amiable and adorable Adesuwa Etomi and handsome Richard Mofe Damijo who played key roles in making this movie.

Japan defense white paper warns of enhanced North Korea threats

  Japan warned on Tuesday against the acute threat posed by North Korea's weapons programs as Pyongyang's continued series of missile and nuclear tests, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, brings technological progress to the reclusive state.

Japan released its annual Defense White Paper after North Korea fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month on lofted trajectories to land off Japan's west coast.

"It is conceivable that North Korea's nuclear weapons program has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturisation of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads," the Defense Ministry said.

Fox News hit with new charges to its credibility

  Things had started settling down following a tumultuous year at Fox News Channel before it was hit with a cover headline in the New York Daily News, "Fake News Channel," and questions about the independence of its journalists on Wednesday.

A defamation lawsuit filed this week accuses the network of making up quotes and pushing a false story that benefits President Donald Trump, even inviting the chief executive into the editorial process.

In essence, Fox is accused of creating fake news to debunk a story Trump has complained is fake news.

Arik Faces Maintenance Challenges over Paucity of Funds

  Nigeria’s biggest carrier, Arik Air, is facing maintenance and safety challenges as it has failed to ferry its aircraft that are due for various categories of checks overseas for maintenance.
Last week, one of the two engines of its aircraft, Boeing 737-800, shut down while it was about to land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, prompting the pilot in command to call for May Day (emergency).
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) confirmed the incident and said it had handed it over to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) for further investigation.
THISDAY investigations revealed that out of nine aircraft due for maintenance, the company was able to take one to Maintenance Overhaul and Repair (MRO) facility in Lithuania, and last week, inspectors had travelled to the facility to inspect it and it is expected to return to Nigeria Monday or Tuesday.

Banana Island Ghost gets ice cream flavour

  As Banana Island Ghost (B.I.G), hit the cinemas last Friday, Cold Stone Creamery Nigeria gave the movie its own ice-cream flavour. According to its management, The ‘Banana Island Ghost’ flavor is a fine mixture of carefully blended ingredients. It is described as sweet from the banana, spicy from a touch of cinnamon and to end this scrumptious delight is a touch of crunch from Graham Pie Crust.

The film and the flavour both hit customers Friday as the unveiling was done at a mini ice-cream party at the Cold Stone Creamery outlet at Ikeja City Mall.

Guests at the party got to hang out and enjoy the tasty new flavour with stars from the movie including the lead cast, ‘Chigul’ Chioma Omeruah, Patrick Diabuah, Akah Nnani, Makida Moka and the Executive Producer of the movie, Biola Alabi.

Five lessons we learnt from the Community Shield

  Arsenal warmed up for the new Premier League season by winning the Community Shield on Sunday with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out victory over Chelsea after a 1-1 draw. Here AFP Sport looks at five things learnt from the Wembley clash:

Lacazette lacks punch

Signed to add a cutting edge to Arsenal’s collection of gifted but often punchless playmakers, Alexandre Lacazette produced a worryingly anonymous display in his first big test since his £46.5 million ($60.6 million, 51.6 million euros) move from Lyon. Lacazette hit 37 goals in 45 games last season, but there were few signs of that penalty box prowess at Wembley. Showing little physical presence or skill in possession, his only incisive contribution came when he dropped deep to link up with Hector Bellerin and Danny Welbeck in a move that ended with the France striker firing against a post from just inside the penalty area.

Morata fluffs his lines

Introduced as a 74th minute substitute after surprisingly starting on the bench, Alvaro Morata was greeted with a huge roar as Chelsea fans got their first glimpse of the club record £58 million signing from Real Madrid. But those cheers turned to sighs of frustration when Morata missed a penalty, firing wide of Petr Cech’s goal, in the shoot-out. Brought by Antonio Conte to replace the unwanted Diego Costa, Morata will be expected to provide the goals to fire Chelsea’s twin assault on the Premier League and Champions League. But the 24-year-old Spaniard had only one chance to get off the mark, lofting tamely over the bar from Willian’s pass, before fluffing his lines from the spot.

From Street Footballer to Record-breaker

                                    
Neymar da Silva Santos Junior could surely never have foreseen the unfathomable riches that lay ahead when he first started kicking a ball with bare feet on the streets of Brazil

I t would not have taken long for the realisation to hit because, by the age of 11, Neymar was the worst-kept secret in Brazil was hounded by scouts from all the country’s top teams and his four-year stay with first club- Portuguesa Santista was coming to a swift end.

Fast forward 14 years and he is now the world’s most expensive player after Paris Saint-Germain agreed to pay Barcelona £199million – the amount in his release clause.

The fee is more than double the previous world record of £89m that Manchester United paid Juventus for Paul Pogba last summer and, according to some, is a deal we will not see the likes of in the next 50 years, let alone the next two or three. He will earn about £650,000 every seven days.

The only son of Neymar Santos Sr – a former professional footballer himself  and Nadine da Silva was born on February 5, 1992 in Mogi das Cruzes, a small city 40 kilometres east of Sao Paulo.

Klitschko turns down Joshua Rematch, Retires from Boxing

  41-year-old former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has retired from boxing.

He turned down a rematch with  Anthony Joshua, slated for November 11 in Las Vegas, BBC reports.

“I have achieved everything I dreamed of, and now I want to start my second career after sports. I would have never imagined that I would have such a long and incredibly successful boxing career,” Klitschko said.

Joshua will not fight Bulgarian mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev before December 2 or risk being stripped of his IBF belt.

From 2018 No National ID number, No Passport – Immigration

  The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said that beginning 2018, anyone without a national identification number will be unable to obtain the Nigerian passport.

According to Thisday, the NIS Comptroller General Mohammed Babandede said this after a meeting with the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Department of the Presidential Villa.

He said the decision was made in conjunction with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), with the aim to harmonize all data collected from citizens by government agencies. He said:

The bulk lies on all our table. It is the harmonisation of data and requires all of us to act but the biggest problem we are facing is that everybody is deploying his own technology. There is a practical commitment to this.

We have agreed that from 2018 1st January, anybody who is going to apply for Nigerian Passport, whether renewal or fresh must first have an NIMC number, national identity number.

WELCOME TO AUGUST, OUR MONTH OF NEW THINGS

    “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”


Ø Your own business will grow.

Ø You will begin to have enough capital for your business.


Ø You will grow in prayer.


Ø You will begin to grow in Bible study.WELCOME TO AUGUST, OUR MONTH OF NEW THINGS

Ø You will grow in your studies.


Ø Your trade will attract more customers.


Ø Your ministry will record faster growth.
Ø You will begin to record better and rapid growth in all your life endeavors, so that this month will be better for you than the last month in the name of Jesus. Amen.Happy