Remo Stars are fresh of winning the NPFL, but the club owner believes they can’t compete on the continent yet
Remo Stars owner Kunle Soname has stated that former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo is better than all the strikers in the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL), Soccernet.ng reports.
Remo Stars are fresh off winning the NFPL after knocking on the door for two consecutive seasons. This means that they will be Nigeria’s representative in the CAF Champions League.
However, club owner, Soname does not believe that his club can go far in the tournament due to what he perceives as a shortage of quality players.
The Remo Stars chief believes that they would need to sign two top strikers at least to be able to compete on the continent.
Meanwhile, he is open to signing Super Eagles players in the twilight of their careers. The Remo Stars owner mentioned former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo as one of the players on his wishlist.
The 36-year-old spent six months on loan at Manchester United from his Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in 2020, and he ranks as one of the best strikers the country has produced.
“I heard that Ighalo said he still wants to come and play in the NPFL, but I’m not sure if he’s still at his Saudi Arabian club,” Soname said on The Abu Azeez Podcast.
“But he will not be able to play because no team can afford him except he just wants to come and contribute his own quota to the game locally.
“No club in this country can pay him. If he decides to come and play, I will sign him 1,000 times over. No striker in the NPFL is better than him right now.”
Last season, the highest goalscorer in the NPFL was Nasarawa United star Anas Yusuf with 19 goals. Although Yusuf is still part good of CHAN team, when players emerge as the highest goalscorers in the NPFL, they leave immediately.
The best players have always preferred to move to other clubs in Europe and Africa where they can make more money.
NPFL stars struggle at CHAN; perhaps Kunle Soname is right
The Super Eagles Team B, also known as CHAN Eagles, started their 2024 CHAN campaign on a disappointing note, as they fell to a painful 1-0 defeat to Senegal in their opening game on Tuesday.
Although they did not play poorly, the team did not create many chances on the night. The forwards did not apply themselves on the game enough.
With the forwards’ performance in their CHAN opener, Kunle Soname’s statement definitely makes some sense.
Nonetheless, coach Eric Chelle still has two more group stage games to prove the quality of his team. He will hope to bounce back and push the team to success.