Real Madrid presidential candidate

 
Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme has vowed to appoint Jurgen Klopp as the club’s new manager and re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo if he wins the upcoming elections.

Long-time president Florentino Perez last week called for an election to be held in a bid to win himself a fifth term in office.

Perez, 74-year, won the club’s last two elections uncontested, but this time around he’ll face competition from Cox Energy CEO Riquelme.

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And the 32-year-old Riquelme has big plans for Los Blancos if he successfully defeats Perez, which includes axing current manager Zinedine Zidane.

During an appearance on El Partidazo de COPE, Riquelme said: “Zidane would not be my coach.

“The Sports Directorate thinks of another profile with another strategy.

“I personally like Klopp a lot and Raul is doing very well. It would be to value him […].”

Bringing back Ronaldo, Real’s all-time leading goalscorer, would also be one of Riquelme’s main priorities.

He said: “I put on the table that we repeat Cristiano, because he has represented a lot for football and for Real Madrid.

“There are no old or young players, there are good or bad players.”

Ronaldo, 36, left Madrid in the summer of 2018 to join Italian champions Juventus but has continuously been linked with a move back to the Spanish capital.

Riquelme’s audacious plans were revealed before the first leg of the Spanish champion’s Champions League quarter-final tie with Liverpool at the Bernabeu.

The prospect of managing Real was put to Klopp ahead of Tuesday’s match, with the German insisting he’d be more than content with his career if he didn’t end up coaching Los Blancos.

Guardiola Still Interested In Messi Reunion

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola would reportedly still be open to a reunion with Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi at the Etihad Stadium. Man City and Paris Saint-Germain were both heavily linked with a move for the Argentine last summer when he handed in a transfer request, but a dispute over his release clause ultimately led to Messi staying put at Camp Nou. Following the re-election of Joan Laporta as president, Messi is thought to be more open to penning a new deal at the club, but as things stand he will become a free agent at the end of the current campaign. Read Also:Zidane Denies Mohamed Salah Links According to Marca, Guardiola would love to reunite with his former attacker on the blue side of Manchester, but the Citizens will only move for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner if he announces his desire to leave Barcelona again. The report claims that City could steal a march on PSG in the race for Messi as the French side prioritise new deals for Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, but Messi will supposedly wait to hear Laporta’s proposal for the club’s future before deciding his next move. Messi has amassed 42 goal contributions from 38 matches across all tournaments this season, but he drew a rare blank during Barca’s 1-0 victory over Real Valladolid on Monday.

EPL Player Of The Month Award: Iheanacho Has Proven His Worth At Leicester City

Former Nigerian defender, Sam Sodje has lauded Super Eagles forward, Kelechi Iheanacho for winning the Premier League Player of the Month Award for March. The Nigerian international, who is popularly known as ‘Seniorman’ beat Harry Kane, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, Riyad Mahrez, Andreas Christensen, Leandro Trossard, and Illan Meslier to the award. The 24-year-old netted five times in three league appearances for the Foxes before the international break last month. These goals included Iheanacho’s first Premier League hat-trick against Sheffield United. Iheanacho is the fourth Nigerian to scoop the prize, after Austin Jay-Jay Okocha (Nov 2003), Peter Odemwingie (Sept 2010, April 2011, Nov 2012), and Odion Ighalo (Dec 2015). Reacting to his achievement, Sodje in a chat with a Lagos-based radio station said that Iheanacho has proven his worth in Leicester City. “EPL is a difficult league, says the former Reading defender. “It is huge stuff for Kelechi, remember he had it tough when he started at Manchester – but he has proven his worth at Leicester now,” He added.

Odemwingie: Former Super Eagles Coaches Were Involved In Player Management

Former Nigeria forward Peter Odemwingie has revealed that former handlers of the team were player managers. Odemwingie, who scored 10 goals in 63 appearances for the Super Eagles, played in four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two FIFA World Cups. The duo of Chinedu Obasi and Brown Ideye have recently revealed dirty dealings in the national team by officials. Odemwingie states that the coaches preffered to use weaker players than quality stars during matches in his time with the Super Eagles. Read Also: Moses: Conte Most Important Manager Of My Career “Some picked a weaker player over a stronger one who played in a better club because they wanted to market their player,”Osaze told the Super Eagles media team in an interview via Instagram Live.

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Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have joined the chase for Reading’s young Nigerian midfielder Michael Olise, TeamTalk reports. The Champions League holders have joined the likes of PSG, Lyon, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus for Olise. Bayern have already secured Royals left-back Omar Richards on a pre-contract, which will see him move to Bavaria on a free transfer. But they are not ready to stop there, with the highly-rated Olise now very much on their radar. The 19-year-old can move to the continent for a nominal amount of compensation. However, given that he’s regarded as one of the top young midfielders in the country, he should fetch a decent fee. Also Read: Racist Abuse: Simy Nwankwo’s Son Gets Honorary Citizenship Olise is a French youth international, who is also still wanted by England, but he is out-of-contract at the Madejski Stadium this summer and has told the club he is not going to sign a new deal. The teenager spent time with Manchester City and Chelsea as a young player, before joining Reading’s youth system. However, both his former clubs are back in the market for him. It is revealed more than half the Premier League have told his representatives they would like to take him. But with Reading demanding compensation of well over £10million, moving abroad could end up being an easier option. Clubs may not want to risk a transfer tribunal, as that is what would be needed if any club interested cannot agree a deal with Reading. Olise, who also saw team-mate Danny Loader join Porto last year, is open to the idea of moving abroad. He was placed on standby for the Eagles ahead of their AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho.

Nigeria Stars

 
Former Super Eagles Forward, Daniel ‘D Bull’ Amokachi has recalled a bust-up between two of his colleagues in the Super Eagles, Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh prior to the Super Eagles Second Round clash against Italy.

Amokachi who spoke on the backdrop of the reported bust-up between Chelsea duo, Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arizabalaga at their training ground in the wake of their 5-2 home drubbing by relegation-bound West Brom said it was not a strange occurrence to witness such altercations among players.

Recalling a similar situation in the Super Eagles, Amokachi described how his teammates, Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh had a bust up before the game against Italy.

“I remember in 1994, prior to our match against Italy, Siasia and Oliseh went physical on the pitch in the training ground,” the former Forward said. “Everybody was tensed and it flared up.”

“We always see situations like that; it happened when I was in Club Brugge, in Ranchers (Bees), in Besiktas and Everton. It happens everywhere because we’re just being humans.”

Iheanacho Deserves More Games To Prove His Goal Scoring Mettle

Former Nigerian forward, Jonathan Akpoborie believes Super Eagles star, Kelechi Iheanacho can still improve on his goal-scoring ability if given enough game time by Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers. Iheanacho, who last scored for the Foxes on July 4, 2020, against Crystal Palace, took advantage of the rare opportunity given to him by Rodgers to make a big statement of intent. The Nigerian international netted his first goal of the campaign in the 17 minutes with a well time finish against Fulham. Reacting to Iheanacho’s performance, the former Wolfsburg striker told Completesports correspondent that the former Man City star must capitalise on this form to stake a claim for a regular shirt. ‘There is no doubt that Kelechi Iheanacho has good potentials and he truly displayed it with his brilliant finish against Fulham. “He has no other chance than this very one to really stake a claim for a regular shirt in the team now that Jamie Vardy is injured. With or without his absence, Iheanacho deserves to be given a look by Leicester City manager, Brendan Rodgers