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 The striker carousel turned again Wednesday with Olivier Giroud's transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea for a fee reportedly worth £17.5 million. Giroud, who was surplus to requirements at Arsenal following the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund, becomes Chelsea's third signing of the winter window after putting pen to paper on an 18-month contract. (Photo courtesy: Chelsea) Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports reports that Chelsea will pay Arsenal an initial fee of £15.3 million, and that the figure could possibly rise to £17.5 million based on a further £2.2 million in add-ons. Giroud's move to Chelsea followed confirmation that outcast Michy Batshuayi has joined Dortmund on loan for the rest of the season. The French international, who is expected to be in the stands when Chelsea takes on Bournemouth on Wednesday, will wear the No. 18 jersey for his new club. "Chelsea is one of the biggest teams in the Premier League," Giroud said. &qu

   One of the Premier League transfer window's most speculated moves has come to fruition, with Chelsea announcing the signing of Brazilian-born full-back Emerson Palmieri from Roma.   The Blues revealed the news with a statement on its website on Tuesday, adding that the 23-year-old has joined the west London lot on a four-and-a-half-year deal. Reports suggest Chelsea had an offer of a £17.5-million fee with an additional £5.2 million in performance-related bonuses accepted for the player. "English football is something I have been watching since I was 15 years old. It is a really beautiful game over here but it is going to be even more beautiful to play it," Emerson admitted.  A left-footed left-back who can also play on the wing, Emerson played a scant 15 minutes of league football this season for I Giallorossi after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture in May. "We are delighted to welcome Emerson to the club. He is a young and talented player who stren

  Chelsea reached an agreement to sign Emerson Palmieri from Roma on Monday It's believed the Blues will pay an initial £17.6 million for the left wing-back, indicating that his arrival will be a separate deal from the reported approach for Roma striker Edin Dzeko.  The move for Dzeko has reportedly completely collapsed, but Emerson is expected to sign four-and-a-half-year contract worth £42,000 a week in the English capital, The Evening Standard's Simon Johnson understands. Antonio Conte has been on the lookout for wing-back assistance since last summer. Davide Zappacosta was brought into Torino to compete with Victor Moses on the right-hand side, but Marcos Alonso's spot on the other flank has gone relatively untroubled. Emerson, 23, is a natural down the left, but Aleksandar Kolarov stole his spot in the Roma lineup while he was absent for three months with a knee injury. Emerson's performances last term were superb, though, and encouraged the Italian footbal

 Two primary school teachers in Ogun State are currently battling for their lives at a government-owned hospital after suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked them on Thursday, inflicting deep machete cuts on them. The incident, which took place few metres to Atola Primary School in Ewekoro North Local Council Development Area, sent residents of the area into a panic while other schools in the community hurriedly dispersed for fear of being attacked, too.   The attack was said to have occurred few minutes after the teachers arrived school for the day’s work. Chairman of Ewekoro North LCDA, Mr. Kehinde Adepegba, said that the affected teachers had since been moved from the maternity hospital they were initially put into a government-owned medical facility in the Ijaiye area of the state. He said, “The Ogun State Government has taken over the case and as we speak the affected teachers have been transferred from our maternity hospital at Onigedu to the Ogun State General Hospital at Ijaiy

  Chelsea are willing to pay Roma £26m for striker Edin Dzeko, as per reports in England.  The 31-year-old former Manchester City forward is understood to want a basic salary of £90k-a-week, and a contract to run until the summer of 2021.   It is the latest twist in Chelsea's search for a new striker, following Roma's denial on Thursday that a deal had been agreed for Dzeko. It came after reports from Sky in Italy on Wednesday that Chelsea and Roma had agreed a deal for Dzeko to move to Stamford Bridge, and that it was now down to the Premier League side to agree terms with the player. Chelsea have reportedly targeted several strikers in the January transfer window, including West Ham's Andy Carroll and Ashley Barnes of Burnley, as the club continue to search for someone to share goalscoring duties with Alvaro Morata.

  After all political permutations, Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, on Friday formally opened up and rejected the proposal by the Federal Government for cattle colonies. He also described as “false, malicious and highly mischievous”, reports in the social media that he had carved out parts of Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government Areas for the creation of cattle colonies.  Lalong is said to be a strong ally of President Muhammadu Buhari and has never criticised his government or any of his wrong policies. Political pundits say his support for the President was a ploy to get favour and give him an automatic ticket for reelection in the 2019 governorship election. Lalong in a Government House statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dan Manjang, advised all peace-loving citizens of Plateau State to “discountenance such mischievous information” and gravitate towards issues of unity, rather than those that divide them.

  It was the almost the biggest cheer of the night when Philippe Coutinho replaced Andres Iniesta in the 68th minute.  His debut could not have been more assured and there were ‘Oles!’ for his passes from home supporters who saw him so nearly set-up Luis Suarez for what would have been Barca’s third goal on the night.  ‘I’m just pleased to have made my debut, for the way I was received, and to start with a win,’ he said after Barcelona made it into the Copa del Rey semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory over local rivals Espanyol. Philippe Coutinho replaced Andres Iniesta to make his Barcelona debut on Thursday night Coutinho, signed for £142m from Liverpool, admitted to feeling nerves on his first appearance The Brazilian, who was photographed next to Luis Suarez in the dressing room after his debut, said: ‘I was a bit anxious but the way the supporters greeted me when I came on calmed me down. It was all positive. ‘It was a special night and we got the result we needed

  The Federal Government remains defiant in its decision to pursue the establishment of cattle colonies across the country in spite of the widespread criticism and pushback, stating that as from next week, work would commence towards attaining the goal.   Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who disclosed this when he visited the agriculture and veterinary complex of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, made it clear that states which were not interested in the idea would be exempted.  Following killings by herdsmen in various parts of the country, the government had proposed the establishment of cattle colonies as the long-term solution. But some states, including Benue, Ogbeh’s state, have strongly rejected the idea. Defending the proposal, Ogbeh said it was part of the resolutions by the committee set up to find lasting a solution to the killings.   Meanwhile, a Niger-Delta youth group has reacted to the federal government’s cattle colony idea,

   Starting January 2018, male employees of Access Bank Plc can take advantage of an enhanced parental leave policy that extends paid benefits to all mothers and fathers, the bank has said. Fostering an inclusive workplace, the policy offers paid leave to all new parents at the bank, including mothers and fathers, as well as adoptive and surrogate parents.    According to a statement by the lender, the new policy offers one week fully paid paternity leave to male employees and allows them to care for their offspring and spend some quality time with the new addition to their family while supporting the new mother who needs the break. Also included in the new policy is a surrogacy or adoptive leave with full pay for three calendar months for female employees of the bank.   “These benefits supplement the 12 weeks of paid leave Access Bank currently provides to birth mothers. The policy also complements the Bank’s existing health and flexible workplace benefits, which support work-lif

  Jose Mourinho was in a jubilant mood on Wednesday night as Manchester United edge closer to landing Alexis Sanchez.  But the United boss was left red-faced as he arrived back at the Lowry Hotel after Italian TV pulled the ultimate prank.   He was asked to sign a United shirt but after obliging, he realised it had Antonio Conte's name printed on it!  The pair have clashed on multiple occasions since Conte moved to England with their spat escalating recently. Earlier this month, Mourinho said he will never be "suspended for match-fixing" in a jibe at Conte, who responded by calling him a little man.   And with reporters asking him about the imminent deal for Sanchez, the Portuguese was side-tracked. Despite the prank, the United boss appeared to take it well although he put his hands over his eyes as it was revealed. Jose Mourinho United are closing in on the signing of Sanchez , with an announcement expected before the weekend.   Sanchez has reportedly

   A recent comment by Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong that he warned his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, against the anti-open grazing law, has continued to attract condemnation as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that he might have gone mad to make such a statement.   The Plateau State PDP which stated this in a statement released by its publicity secretary, Joan Akans, also wondered how Governor Lalong could describe the killing of innocent people in their homes in Benue as mere “clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers”.  PDP said in the statement that Lalong in order to “impress his ‘oga at the top’ and State House Press, said he restored peace in the state within three months of his coming to office, dismissing the recent killings that took place in the last three months in Barkin Ladi, Ryom and Bassa local government areas.”   The statement stated further, “Rather than proceed to Benue State on his return from vacation abroad to commiserate with ou

  Chelsea star Eden Hazard has offered new hope to fans that he will sign a new contract with the Blues, but still claims team-mate Thibaut Courtois will be the first to get an extension. Hazard has been consistently linked to Real Madrid, with reports on Thursday even suggesting that he had agreed a move to Spain. But the winger, who took in the NBA clash between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in London on Thursday along with a host of other big names, has once again hinted at a new deal with Blues, pouring cold water on some of the rumours about his future. “Yes,” Hazard told Mirror Football when asked if he would ink a new contract with the London outfit. “I think Thibaut first. Then I will sign.” Hazard and Chelsea are currently third in the Premier League, just a point back of second-placed Manchester United but 16 behind runaway leaders Manchester City.

   The  students leaders of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic seize this opportunity to inform all  students of the polytechnic about the suspension of the 3 months old strike embarked upon by the ASUP chapter of the the institution.   It is pertinent to let you know that after witnessing an elapsed moments at home void of academic activities, the students leadership of the polytechnic made  bold steps by orchestrating a peaceful protest towards relaying our grievances to the concerned parties which has yielded positive result the students populace have been expecting. Consequently, we  want to appreciate  the  Ogun State Government under the leadership of Senator Ibikunle Amosun CON FCA, for the quick response to the demands of the Polytechnic Staffs' union, which was the reason for the delay in our examination. However, we also want to appreciate the Academic staff union of the Polytechnic (ASUP), MAPOLY Chapter for suspending the strike embarked upon, after a perceived response

  England have confirmed a friendly against Nigeria scheduled for June 2, ahead of Russia 2018 World Cup.  The tuneup encounter will take place at the Wembley Stadium five days before Gareth Southgate's men travel to Leeds to take on Costa Rica at Elland Road. The Three Lions tactician hinged his choice of the three-time African champions and the Central American side on the fact that they would be facing teams [Tunisia and Panama] from the regions in Group G at the global showpiece, hence the need to book the ties. "We've mostly played European opposition up to now and the Brazil game acted as a reminder that we need to challenge ourselves in different ways as a team," Southgate told the FA website. "We're going into a World Cup where we will play African and Central American opposition so we get that with the games against Nigeria and Costa Rica but it's not just about the games we've got in the group but hopefully beyond that as well."