Gal vs Che: Mikel in fitness test

Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, is hoping that Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Obi recovers in time for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League game away at Turkish side, Galatasaray. Mikel did not feature in Chelsea’s hard earned 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday at Stamford Bridge and the Blues boss says his Nigerian import will face a late fitness test for the match in Istanbul. The Nigerian, if declared fit for the game, will play against former team mate Didier Drogba who now stars for the Turkish side.

Mourinho said, “I don’t know if (John Obi) Mikel and David Luiz can recover in time either.

“It’s important that at least one of them recovers as we won’t have Nemanja Matic as he is cup-tied. I don’t think we have other problems with players.”

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi is the other manager who is keeping a close watch on the status of the player as the country will take on Mexico in a friendly match on March 5. The match will be played in the United States of America.

African Nations Championship Most Valuable Player, Ejike Uzoenyi, has revealed why he joined South African side, Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Nigeria attacker has signed a four-year deal with The Brazilians and will join his new teammates later in June. The deal with the South African club has permitted the player to stay back with Enugu Rangers on loan. He will star for Rangers in the Nigerian Premier league billed to kick off on March 8. It was leanrt that Uzoenyi’s contract with Rangers ended at the close of last season.

The winger had a very impressive outing at CHAN in South Africa. Negotiations for the player’s acquisition had been on the table since after the competition where Nigeria finished as the third best team. The player, who wrapped up the deal by the weekend said he was indeed gladdened to have finally concluded the paper work.

He said, “Joining a club like Sundowns is a great deal for me because their ambition to conquer Africa is in line with my career objectives as a player.

“The other thing that made me join the club is that Coach Pitso had a chat with me before I joined and we had a discussion about his plans for me and I feel that I’m ready for the challenge.”