Most controversial Nigerian football Transfers

Emmanuel Emenike

Dolphin striker Emem Eduok had reportedly signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Tunisian giants Esperance worth €300,000 late last year but Norwegian club Sarpsborg 08 have insisted that they have the rights to the prolific striker, who scored 20 league goals last season for Dolphin.

This controversy has raged on in recent weeks and analysts believe it may make-or-mar the career of the rising marksman.

Emem Eduok

Sarpsborg Sporting Director, Thomas Berntsen, said the club signed Eduok from A&B Academy on a four-year deal – after the player’s deal expired at Dolphin – thus claiming that the rights accruing from the player’s transfer belonged to Sarpsborg and not Dolphin.

“Eduok confirmed to us in oral and written that he belongs to A&B Academy, we did our own investigations and we found out its true,” Berntsen was quoted as saying by SA.no.

According to reports, Edouk’s agent had earlier brokered a four-year deal worth $150,000 with Sarpsborg but when the Esperance offer came, Dolphin shunned the Norwegian club’s deal.

The player’s agent had allegedly maintained that the transfer rights of Edouk belonged to A&B Academy since his contract with Dolphin had ran out.

But in a twist of fate, the striker insisted he had no contract with Sarpsborg, claiming his failed move to Sarpsborg was because the club failed to meet terms with Dolphin.

However, Berntsen says he expects Eduok to resume with Sarpsborg on January 18 with reports indicating that the Norwegians may take up the case with world football body FIFA, if the player fails to join up with the squad.

Nigeria Football Federation boss, Pinnick Amaju, lamented the controversy surrounding the transfer of the player and ordered the striker out of the camp of Super Eagles’ B, preparing for the friendly matches against Ivory Coast and Sudan in the United Arab Emirates.

Mikel Obi

“We are not happy with the cloud of controversy over his transfer issue and it is a terrible distraction to the team and Nigeria football generally. Telling him to leave the camp does not mean we are indicting him.

“We will carry out an investigation and whoever is found guilty will be duly sanctioned. We have to do this to serve as a deterrent to others. We are not blaming the player for anything yet; investigation will unravel who is guilty. But the distraction and controversy the matter has generated is not good for the camp.”

Amaju thus charged the NFF’s Chairman, Technical and Development Committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, to conduct an investigation into the matter.

Amuneke dumps Duisburg for Sporting Lisbon

Over the years, several other Nigerian players have been involved in high-profile controversial transfers in Europe and at home.

One of the most celebrated earliest cases was that of former Nigeria international, Emmanuel Amuneke. After the 1994 World Cup, Amuneke was presented to the public as a player of Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg after he reportedly signed for the Germans from Egyptian giants Zamalek.

However, the left winger failed to appear for training with Duisburg and it was later learnt that the 1994 African Footballer of The Year already had a contract with Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon. When the matter reached FIFA, the world football body initially said the first contract with the German side was lawful, even though Amuneke had stated that he didn’t want to play for Duisburg.

Osaze Odemwingie

FIFA changed its stance and Duisburg had to sell Amuneke for a million dollars to Sporting Lisbon and the player went on to have a glorious time in Portugal. He became famous after scoring the lone and winning goal against arch-rivals Benfica in the Lisbon derby. He scored seven goals in his first season as Sporting won the Portuguese Cup. He added 10 more goals in his second season and was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 1996.

Thereafter, top Spanish club Barcelona snapped him up for US$3.6m.

Chelsea, Man United tussle for Mikel

“Did Chelsea kidnap Mikel? That is what Nigerian media alleged when the young midfielder disappeared for nine days. When he surfaced, he had agreed a deal to join Chelsea. Problem was, Manchester United had announced the year before that Mikel was joining them. Eventually, Chelsea were forced to pay United £12m and Lyn £4m for the Nigerian.”

That was how British newspaper, Telegraph, summed up the transfer woes of Chelsea midfielder Mikel in 2006.

Truly, one of the most controversial transfers in the last 10 years was that involving Mikel. Manchester United first announced a deal to sign Mikel in 2005 on a four-year deal worth £4m.

The player, then with Norwegian side Lyn Oslo, was billed to join up with his Old Trafford teammates in January 2006 when Chelsea stepped in with a counter-claim late in 2005 that they had negotiated an agreement with Mikel.

The player, who had expressed excitement at the prospect of playing for United later claimed that he was pressured into signing the Manchester deal and that he atually wanted to play for Chelsea.

FIFA waded into the matter and ordered Mikel to return to Lyn and see out his contract while the football body took a decision on the matter.

But before a decision was taken, Chelsea offered to negotiate with United and Lyn. In June 2006, the three clubs resolved the issue and Mikel was allowed to play for Chelsea but The Blues paid United for not pursuing Mikel’s contract. United received £6m when the contract was finalised and another £6m in June 2007.

While the drama played out, Mikel was reportedly kidnapped by Chelsea but the player apparently left for London during the 2005 Norwegian Cup without the knowledge of Lyn officials.

Emenike joins Spartak after match-fixing allegations

Powerful Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike joined Fenerbahce on May 25, 2011 for an undisclosed fee, but two months later, he would leave the Turkish giants to team up with Russian side Spartak Moscow after surviving a match-fixing scare.

He was to feature for the Turkish champions until 2015 after joining them from Karabukspor.

But the Nigeria striker was alleged to be part of a match-fixing issue involving Fenerbahce, which he denied. Emenike was arrested by the police and was in custody for five days. A court however ordered his release insisting the player had no case to answer in the investigations.

On July 28, 2011, he was sold to Spartak Moscow for €10m due to the match fixing scandal even though he failed to play a single game for Fenerbahce.

While in Russia, he was charged, along with 13 other players, over the alleged match-fixing offence. The Nigerian could have faced up to three years in prison if convicted by a Turkish court.

However, after several delays over his case during a two-year period, Emenike was cleared of match-fixing on April 25, 2013, due to lack of credible evidence.

Odemwingie’s failed QPR move

Odemwingie’s future at West Bromwich Albion came under doubt when he launched an attack against his club on Twitter, and stated his desire to move to another club in the 2012/13 season.

Odemwingie then found himself at the centre of a bizarre deadline day transfer in January 2013 when he tried to force a move from Albion to Queens Park Rangers but it fell apart. When he turned up at Loftus Road expecting to sign for QPR, he was barred from the stadium.

The former Lille striker had submitted a transfer request at The Hawthorns, which was rejected and he tweeted his frustration as his club blocked two offers for him from Rangers. A deal finally looked set to happen, with Albion taking Junior Hoilett on loan in part-exchange, only for the QPR forward to reject the move.

QPR manager Harry Redknapp and the club’s chief executive, Phil Beard, tried to revive the purchase of the Nigerian but 15 minutes before the deadline, they admitted defeat, with Albion insistent that they would not sell the player.

Odemwingie had no choice but to return to Albion. He was initially sent home from training on his return and was disciplined by the club for his actions but resumed training after publicly apologising for his behaviour.

The club said they were “extremely disappointed to witness TV footage of Odemwingie arriving at Loftus Road” when no deal had been struck.

He returned to the side against Sunderland on February 23, 2013, coming on as a substitute in the final few minutes and was jeered by the Albion supporters. Manager Steve Clarke continued to use Odemwingie as a substitute, which made the player to again attack the club on Twitter.

Odemwingie finally realised his wish of leaving Albion, when he signed a two-year contract with Cardiff City for £2.25m in September 2013.

However, four months later, he joined Stoke City from Cardiff on an 18-month contract in a player-exchange with Kewyne Jones.

Domestic war over AFCON hero Mba

Super Eagles midfielder Sunday Mba etched his name in African football history, when his lone strike in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final against Burkina Faso, handed Nigeria a third African title after a 19-year wait.

In the quarter-finals, Mba had grabbed the winner in the 2-1 victory over tournament favourites Ivory Coast.

Though he was registered for the 2013 AFCON as an Enugu Rangers, Mba would later be engulfed in one of Nigeria’s biggest local transfer controversies ever.

Another Premier League side, Warri Wolves, claimed ownership of Mba on his return from South Africa and then began the saga that kept the player out of football for almost six months.

Both clubs produced documents backing their ownership and it seemed the battle over the player would see no end until the Nigeria Football Federation waded into the matter.

The NFF, after its findings, stated that Mba had ‘contractual obligations with Warri Wolves.’ The football body then warned that it would fix Mba’s transfer fee if Wolves and Rangers failed to agree a fee for the player.

The Warri-based club later released Mba to Rangers on loan in May 2013 for their continental games and he scored on his Rangers’ debut, a 3-1 loss to Clube Recreativo Desportivo do Libolo in the 2013 CAF Champions League.