Thursday, July 20, 2017

‘Why top clubs shun Nigerian stars’


Former Super Eagles midfielder Edema Fuludu has blamed the poor state of  the domestic league for   Nigerian players’ inability to secure contracts  with top  European  clubs.


While  Guinea midfielder  Naby Keita (Leipzig), Algeria winger  Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) and  Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang  are attracting megabucks deal, Nigerian players are only good enough for the football backwater  of  China,  Turkey, Slovenia, Austria  and Ukraine.

Fuludu called for the Nigeria Football Federation and  League Management Company to work towards  enhancing the domestic  league to provide a better platform to improve the players.

“In spite of the effort by the LMC to reposition our league to make it viable, we are still not there yet,” the Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria as saying on Wednesday.

 “These days, most African players are eager to play in the South African league, because the league there  has all the vital elements of a good competition.

“Our players who  have managed to be considered  (by clubs in Europe) are only good enough for second divisions and if they struggle to play for top  clubs, they are not among the first-team players.”

The former Julius Berger star added, “A player’s market value depends on how he is playing. How often he plays and the impact he is making in his club, and also for his country are very important.

“It’s a big issue for us, it also has an impact on our national team.”

Fuludu  told NAN that the domestic league  could do with more viable investors.

He said, “We need more investments in our league so that if our market value goes up, scouts will always come here to get our products. We must make the value of our home team strong.

 “If officiating gets better, coaches get trained,  a player in Nigeria will probably be offered $200, 000 $ or 100,000  as the case maybe.

“If it’s a player in South Africa, he will earn  millions simply because they have invested in their league.”

0 comments:

Post a Comment