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Wenger Names Kanu As His Best January Signing
Former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has named Nwankwo Kanu as his best signing in the middle of the season during his 22-year spell with the Gunners.
Kanu moved to North London from Inter Milan for a reported £4.15m fee in 1999 and immediately established himself in the team.
He came off the bench to make a significant impact in first few outings for the Gunners with goals against Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa as a substitute.
He also bagged a 15-minute hat-trick against Chelsea in October 1999, which helped Arsenal turn around a two-goal deficit to claim a 3-2 win.
In his first few outings for the Gunners, the ex-Nigeria forward scored 17 goals in 50 matches, and he helped them to a runners-up finish in the Uefa Cup.
When quizzed about the best move he made in January, Wenger picked Kanu – who he described as a huge player – ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whom he signed from Borussia Dortmund for a then club-record fee in January 2018.
“What a difficult question. Over 20 years, maybe Kanu. In the middle of the season. That had a big impact and he was a huge player,” he told beIN Sport.
Kanu was a popular figure at Arsenal during his five-and-a-half years at the club, winning several individual and team laurels before joining West Bromwich Albion in 2004.
He was part of the Invincible team that won the 2003-04 Premier League title without losing a game and also won two FA Cups.
Wenger is currently working as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development after leaving Arsenal in 2018.
He disclosed that he is not in favour of the January transfer window, and he thinks it should be scrapped.
“No, I am not. Because I think it is like a race in a marathon where you change the shoes halfway,” he added.
“It is not right, when once you have started the season, you have to finish the season with the same players.
“Or you keep it open the whole season like it was when I arrived in England. They have chosen a rule that is not right.”
The 2023 Labour Party, LP, governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has alleged an attempt to use the Department of State Services, DSS, to force the Speaker of the state Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, to step aside or resign.
Rhodes-Vivour said the invasion of the Lagos State House of Assembly by DSS operatives was a major blow to politics in the state.
Operatives of the DSS and the Nigeria Police, on Monday, took over the Lagos State House of Assembly
The invasion followed a leadership crisis between the Assembly and its former speaker, who was impeached on January 13.
Meranda had replaced Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker.
Obasa was impeached while he was in the United States.
Upon his return to Nigeria, Obasa had insisted that he was not impeached, stressing that the lawmakers failed to follow due process in his removal.
However, featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Rhodes-Vivour said lawmakers must not owe their loyalty to godfathers.
He said: “It was a major low for politics in Lagos State today.
“What we saw today was an attempt to intimidate the speaker to step aside and resign by using armed men and threats of violence.
“Whoever is behind this should solve this problem in a civilized fashion because the State Assembly must owe its loyalty to its constituents and not any godfather.”
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the removal of CP Lanre Ishola as the Commissioner of Police, Lagos, replacing him with CP Moshood Lawal.
The removal is with immediate effect…
Details soon…
By Eric Elezuo
Amid growing tension following the impeachment of former Speaker Mudashiru Obasa of the Lagos House of Assembly, security operatives including men of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Lagos Task Force and the Nigerian Police Force, have reportedly taken over the Assembly complex, locking the Speaker, Mojisola Meranda and her Deputy.
Eyewitness says that amidst the uncertainty, the Speaker of the House arrived to the cheers of other lawmakers, who expressed confidence in the leadership of Rt. Hon. Meranda.
There has been pleasure on Hon Meranda to resign as Speaker since the brouhaha emerged as a result of the rejection of his impeachment by Obasa, who had since taken the matter to court.
Other sources alleged that Meranda may have to resign to pave way for peaceful resolution of the crises that originated from the January 13 impeachment of Obasa.
