English
Premier League duo of Manchester United and Manchester City are
battling to secure the services of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets midfielder,
Ramon Azeez.
The youngster won
the ‘Bronze Ball’ as the third best player at the U17 World
Championships and his performance earned him plaudits from soccer fans
who believe the lad has the potentials of becoming a great player.
Together with striker Sani Emmanuel, Azeez distinguished himself in the
Eaglets squad that finished as runners up in the last U-17 World Cup
hosted on home soil last year and he has been linked with a move to Old
Trafford after the Manchester United manager, reportedly indicated
interest in him.
Doubts
United are expected
to land the midfielder but Ferguson’s reluctance to tie up the deal has
alerted their rivals Manchester City who have the financial muscle to
edge out the Red devils should it turn out to a bidding war. United’s
reluctance iseems to be connected with their previous experience with
another Nigerian, Mikel Obi, whose transfer from Lyn Oslo of Norway led
to a transfer wrangle with Chelsea which lasted for over a year. United
thought they had completed a deal for Mikel in April 2005 but it later
emerged that there were irregularities in the process, as the player
made a U-turn that he only wanted to join Chelsea. The world football
governing body FIFA and Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) had to
intervene in the matter before Mikel eventually moved to Stamford
Bridge in June 2006 after Chelsea agreed to pay £16million to settle
the matter out of court.
There are claims
that Azeez- who has already hinted Mikel is his role model- had
rejected a move to Manchester City, opening the door for a move to the
Old Trafford with Ferguson’s ability to produce super stars out of
youngster being a big attraction for the Nigerian prodigy. But no
agreement has been reached with any of the two Manchester rivals.
Talent
Ifeanyi Abanum, who
is close to the Eaglets midfielder told tribalfootball.com: “After the
U-17 World Cup, he was invited to England for trials by Manchester
City, who had closely monitored his performances at the competition.
However after spending a few days with the Citizens, he was also
invited to Old Trafford for trials. Apparently, Manchester United
scouts also had monitored him at the competition held in Nigeria.”
“Another big transfer drama is about to unfold and we are all (in
Nigeria) watching and waiting.” Abanum believes Azeez could be a good
talent to harness for the new Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback as he
looks for the right mix of players to parade for Nigeria at the FIFA
World Cup in South Africa “He plays as a defensive midfielder and there
is this clamour by Nigerians that he should go to the World Cup. So
highly rated by followers of the game here, that they call him the ‘new
Mikel Obi’”, Abanum said.
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