'Guendouzi needs to grow up' - Arsenal star warned over future behaviour

Former Gunners striker Jeremie Aliadiere says his French compatriot must mature off the pitch if he wants to have long-term success under Mikel Arteta

Article continues below

Jeremie Aliadiere has warned Matteo Guendouzi that he must "grow up" as a human being or risk throwing away his Arsenal career.

Aliadiere was playing for Lorient when Guendouzi was coming through the French club’s academy and grew close to the midfielder, even advising him to make his move to Arsenal in 2018.

So he has watched the 21-year-old’s development with interest during the past two seasons, and despite being impressed by what his friend has done on the pitch, he admits he still has some real concerns over how he is conducting himself off it.

“Listen, I’m a big fan of the guy,” Aliadiere told Goal. “He’s like my little brother and I always told him that Arsenal would be a very good team for his development as a player and as a human being.

Article continues below

“He took my advice and came to the club, but I just feel Matteo hasn’t grown up as a human being yet. He’s grown up as a player, he’s matured massively as a player and every year he gets better.

"But unfortunately as a man, he hasn’t grown and matured as much as I thought he would by joining Arsenal.

“I think that’s what he’s missing and that’s why he’s not playing as much under Mikel [Arteta] because Mikel is not really up for that.

“He wants players who are going to do a job for the team and do what they ask him to do. If they are not happy to do that, then he will have someone else do it for him.”

Guendouzi has started just two Premier League games under Arteta and fell out with the Spaniard during Arsenal’s winter training camp in Dubai.

The pair clashed during training, with Arteta unhappy at the Frenchman’s attitude towards a session, and Guendouzi was subsequently left out of the matchday squad for Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle as punishment.

Guendouzi has only made one eight-minute substitute appearance in the Premier League since, with his only two starts coming in the FA Cup and Europa League, and Aliadiere believes his countryman will struggle to force his way back into Arteta’s plans if he does not change how he handles himself off the pitch.

“Matteo’s a top player and he’s shown that since he’s been here,” said Aliadiere. “And that’s what I’m saying about him maturing as a human being and needing to grow up.

“I saw him coming through the academy when I was at Lorient and having confidence and believing in yourself is amazing and I think at that age it’s a massive quality.

“But I think at some point you have just got to respect and deal with the players and you’ve got to respect your coach.

“There are arguments that just don’t need to be done. I don’t know exactly what happened in Dubai when he fell out with Mikel, but that is not going to help him if he’s going to keep falling out with his coach or team-mates.”

Aliadiere added: “It says a lot when you hear Pep Guardiola and he says things like ‘great player, but more than that a great human being’.

“You can be the best player, but if you don’t have the right attitude and right mentality, that will cost you your career. I don’t care how good you are.

Training with Guardiola is like going to university, says former Man City goalkeeper Caballero

The Chelsea stopper says he felt like a teenager again when the Spaniard arrived at the Etihad Stadium as he was learning so much.

Training under Pep Guardiola is like going to university, according to veteran goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

The Argentine worked under Guardiola at Manchester City before moving on to Chelsea, where he has recently received a contract extension.

And according to Caballero, at the Etihad, every day is a school day.

“I spent a year with him at City, learning something new every day.

“On the playing field, watching videos or at any time, when he approaches you and explains things to you.

“He has no problem teaching someone at 34 years old, as I was, like someone who is 18. He is a great teacher.”

Caballero’s year under Guardiola was the last of his three seasons at Manchester City, having moved from Malaga in 2014.

He followed manager Manuel Pellegrini, who had made the same switch a year earlier.

Caballero only made 23 Premier League appearances for City but was a regular in the cups, memorably saving three penalties in the shoot-out win over Liverpool in the 2016 League Cup final.

“Manuel Pellegrini had convinced me to go with him to Manchester City,” he explained.

“I was doing very well at Malaga, but I accepted. He had promised to keep me as a starter in the cup, although in the league, the starter was Joe Hart, the England national team’s goalkeeper.

“We reached the final and we had to play it against Liverpool. There was a lot of pressure for Hart to start the game.

“But Pellegrini said, ‘I’d rather lose a title than lose my word.’ It kept me going and we won the cup.”

Caballero also spoke about his new contract at Chelsea, which will see him stay at Stamford Bridge until 2021.

Man Utd to focus on targets like Dembele and Werner as Ighalo loan spell ends

The former Nigeria international performed better than expected at Old Trafford, but he was never the long-term answer regardless of the coronavirus.

As Harry Maguire headed in Manchester United’s second goal against Chelsea in their 2-0 Premier League away win in February, Odion Ighalo could be seen on the touchline celebrating like a fan.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had sent his deadline-day signing from the January window out to warm up ahead of his debut at Stamford Bridge, and the lifelong United supporter was - as he has since said in his own words - "living the dream".

Questions were asked when a deal was struck for the former Watford man with just hours left of the January window. Despite the criticism, club sources believed it was a savvy move to help fill a void left by the injury to Marcus Rashford, United’s leading goalscorer this season.

January is a notoriously difficult time to do business and Solskjaer needed back-up for his strike force with Rashford facing months on the sidelines with a back fracture. The Nigerian was seen as a short-term solution to aid United’s injury problems.

The 30-year-old impressed in his eight appearances before Covid-19 forced the postponement of all football, scoring four goals in his three starts. One of those was a world-class finish against LASK in United’s final game before lockdown, He has also shown his ability as a team player, with his strong hold-up play and tireless work rate.

But that Europa League fixture against LASK looks likely to be the final time Ighalo competitively pulls on a United shirt, with his loan deal expiring at the end of May .

The postponement of the Premier League season has seen an agreement reached that enables clubs to temporarily extend the contracts of players whose deals are ending this summer to allow them to play until the season comes to an end, and United were open to keeping Ighalo past the end of his contract.

His parent club Shanghai Shenhua, however, feel that Ighalo is key for them, and due to their lack of squad depth they are keen to have him back for the resumption of the Chinese Super League season. Goal has learned that the Chinese side have offered the forward a new three-and-a-half year deal worth £400,000 a week in a bid to retain his services for the long term.

A six-month loan deal was thought to be good value for money by United chiefs back in January, but with the ex-Nigeria international looking likely to depart after just eight appearances it will be an unfortunate end to a deal that was starting to look like a decent piece of transfer business.

Shenhua, it is understood, are not against selling Ighalo to United on a permanent basis, but the English club are pursuing other options ahead of the transfer window reopening as they consider the added complications of what a post-Covid-19 window is going to look like.

Solskjaer has a recruitment plan as he sets about rebuilding his squad at Old Trafford, and while Ighalo was the right fit as a stop-gap to aid an injury problem, he does not fit with the criteria for the long-term process. The Norwegian wants players with the ‘X-factor’, with the perceived ideal age for a signing believed to be 23. Ighalo ticks neither box.

Lyon striker Moussa Dembele, 23, is on United’s radar, as is 24-year-old RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner, though a move for Tottenham striker Harry Kane has already been put on the back burner due to the huge transfer fee Spurs would demand. Any transfer of a player for hundreds of millions of pounds has been ruled out due to the economic climate brought on by the pandemic.

Werner has a buyout clause in his contract set at €60 million (£53m/$65m) which is due to expire on June 15, according to Sky Germany. He is thought to be keen on a move to Liverpool while Chelsea and Bayern Munich have also been credited with interest.

Dembele, meanwhile, has also attracted the interest of Chelsea and could be on the move when the window re-opens. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas admitted earlier this month that some members of his squad want to play European football next season. Lyon finished seventh in Ligue 1 when the season was cut short due to the coronavirus shutdown.

NAUTH Nnewi records first COVID-19 case

Authorities of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, have confirmed one case of the coronavirus at the hospital.

Prof. Anthony Igwegbe, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, disclosed this on Monday.

Igwegbe said the patient was diagnosed with the virus following a test upon getting to the hospital.

According to him, the test result was released on May 23.

He said the patient was immediately moved to one of the isolation centres in Anambra for treatment.

“The patient was quickly moved from our isolation ward to the Anambra State Treatment Centre last night for care and treatment. Specimen for test was taken the following day and sent to Irrua,” he said.

Igwegbe told reporters that a suspect was earlier taken in, but test sample was not taken before the patient died.

“That was a probable case, the patient showed some symptoms but the sample was not taken before the patient died. So we have only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in NAUTH so far,” he said.

The CMD added that all the necessary precautions were taken and all those that attended to the confirmed patient used Personal Protection Equipment. He gave an assurance that the hospital would remain vigilant.

Makinde, others call for investment in facility management

The Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, says that there should be more investment in facility management to create a sustainable environment in the country. Makinde and other facility management experts made the call at the 2020 Facilities Management Round-table conference.

The governor stated that the roles of facilities management in creating and maintaining a sustainable environment should be likened to governance.

Using the coronavirus pandemic as an example, he said technology had played a critical role in helping to manage people and restructure the environment globally, but facility management had played a critical role behind the scene.

Makinde said facility managers should be commended for their contributions to the health, safety and productivity of people during the pandemic, adding that there should be more focus on the profession.

He said the state government had been having a running battle with space and that rather than take up the various offers for existing spaces to be adopted as isolation centres, his government had taken a different approach with considerations for the longer term. He said,

“I have repeatedly stated that in Oyo State, we will be following the dictates of science, data and logic in our fight against COVID-19. Science requires that we isolate infected people; logic dictates that we must consider our socio-economic factors before deciding on our control and containment measures, and data will continue to help us improve on our environmental strategies for a prosperous state.

If we do not take these things into consideration, our strategies will fail. One of the things people have complained about in our management of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the enforcement of directives. But we know that social distancing is not innate to people. So rather than a hard stance, logic is guiding us to invest in sensitization and ensuring that people get the right incentives that will make them adhere to the guidelines.”

Makinde said the state was taking the difficult route of redesigning places to be able to handle both management and control of the COVID-19 cases.

The Chairman of Alpha Mead Group, organisers of the FM round-table conference, Mutiu Sunmonu, noted that although the global theme for the World FM Day was ‘Celebrating the environment’, current realities had necessitated the contextualisation of the theme.

“I believe the theme we have chosen is very topical to help all stakeholders appreciate the fuller ramification of facility management as not just a profession that manages buildings, but a business function that manages the environment for business sustainability and people productivity,” he said.

Lagos State government plans to improve reading culture

The Lagos State Government has introduced an initiative to stimulate the interest of schoolchildren in reading books.

The Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, in a statement on Sunday, said the initiative, tagged, ‘Read Aloud, Lagos,’ would encourage all children within the primary school age bracket to imbibe the culture of reading.

She noted that this would increase their knowledge and improve comprehension. Seriki-Ayeni said,

“As an education quality assurance person, I was moved by the conviction that children perform better when they are led in the act of reading by someone else. Therefore, reading aloud is expected to be the most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success.”

She explained that the programme was initiated to bridge the reading gap among pupils, adding that information available to the government showed that the time currently allocated to reading during and after school hours, was inadequate.

The director general, however, maintained that the reading ability of children would greatly improve if they had role models to look up to.

She said such models would guide the children on how to pronounce words, read books and think critically.

The education quality assurance boss explained that the project would be inaugurated during the celebration of the Children’s Day on May 27, 2020.

She noted that dignitaries, including Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, would read to children through online platforms and electronic media.

“It is necessary to adopt new strategies of preparing for the new world of learning, since the COVID-19 pandemic has presently put a stop to classroom teaching. The implication of this development is that learning in schools will never be the same again”, Seriki-Ayeni said.

Landlords worry about impact of COVID-19 on commercial properties

A report has said that commercial landlords are increasingly concerned about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their tenants and property portfolio.

The report quoted a commercial property solicitor, Paul Hinchliffe, to have said he had been approached by landlords asking for advice on how they could balance their own books while their tenants were struggling due to enforced closures. He said,

“A lot of landlords are finding they have to accept the current situation and hope it doesn’t take too long to clear.

However, commercial landlords need rent money to keep their own businesses afloat. So, we’ve recommended that, while landlords should accommodate rent reductions, they should continue to demand rent in the usual way, while refraining from waiving their right to collect unpaid rent at a future date.”

Propertywirecom reports that where a company cannot pay its bills due to the coronavirus, the UK government has temporarily banned the use of statutory demands (made between March 1 and June 30, 2020) and winding up petitions (presented from Monday April 27 to the end of June).

It added that the government had introduced secondary legislation to provide tenants with more breathing space to pay rent by preventing landlords from using Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery – unless they were owed 90 days or more of unpaid rent.

Hinchliffe said he had laid out some steps landlords could take in order to manage cash flow during the coronavirus pandemic. He said,

“They should check their rent roll – it’s likely that retail and leisure tenants are going to be hardest hit, so they should prioritise monitoring those tenants. Landlords should analyse whether they have let things slip and need to make a choice about whether they call debts in more formally, or consider speaking to a solicitor about what action they can take.

Lease arrangements should be reviewed, looking at whether tenants are companies or individuals. Companies may be more immediately at risk of insolvency events, so landlords may want to prioritise debt collection from those tenants.

They should talk to tenants, to see they could make changes like moving payments from the usual quarter days to monthly arrangements, or agree a short-term rent referral. Banks should be consulted, to assess options like payment holidays.”

He said landlords could also get in touch with a solicitor, who might be able to help in reviewing leases and contractual arrangements.

He explained that it might be worth it for landlords to pause before making a choice, as the situation was unprecedented and it could be too soon to make a decision about a property portfolio and tenants.

COVID-19 brings advanced and developing countries to the same level - Buhari

The President of Nigeria, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), said that he observed the Eid-el-Fitr prayers at his State House residence because of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

He explained that his decision was in compliance with the measures put in place by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which prohibited mass gatherings.

Buhari was joined at the prayers by family members, including his wife, Aisha, and son, Yusuf.

In a brief interview after the session, Buhari urged Muslims to reflect on the lessons of the period. He said,

“I held Eid prayers at home today with my family, in keeping with the protocol of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 against mass gatherings, as well as the directive of the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, suspending Eid congregational prayers across the country.”

Buhari noted that COVID-19 was so devastating that it had reduced developing and developed countries to be on the same level. He stated,

“Nigerians can see that COVID-19 has reduced us, both the developing and developed countries, to the same level. In fact, we have fewer casualties than they we have.”

He called on farmers to double their efforts in producing more food for the country by taking advantage of the rainy season.

“I hope the rainy season would be bountiful so that we get a lot of food.

I wish the farmers will go to farms and save lives so that we can produce what we need in sufficient quantity so that we don’t have to import food.

In any case, we don’t have any money to import food. So we must produce what we are going to eat,” he added.

$635 million estate : 130 people claim to be Jeffrey Epstein's children

Up to 130 people have come out to claim they could be a child of deceased financier, Jeffrey Epstein in a bid to inherit part of the late paedophile’s $635 million estate.

A website created by a DNA company to find any possible heirs to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has heard from as many as 130 people claiming to be the convicted paedophile’s children.

If any are found to be the multimillionaire’s children, they could lay claim to a piece of his $635 million estate, which includes his Manhattan mansion and a luxury 75-acre estate, dubbed ‘paedophile island’.

Epstein, who took his life in a Manhattan jail cell in August while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, had never married and was not known to have had any children. He left his assets in a trust after his death.

“Jeffrey Epstein was sexually promiscuous for so long that there is a reasonable chance he may have fathered a child,” Harvey Morse, founder of Morse Genealogical Services tells the Sun.

The DNA firm set up the website Epsteinheirs.com shortly after Epstein’s death asking for people who thought they were heirs to his estate to come forward. Since then 386 people have contacted the website and up to 130 say they could be his children.

Earlier this year, Epstein’s estate was valued at $635 million, an increase from about $577 million after the sale of some of its assets.

Epstein still owned four properties, including his Manhattan mansion and Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, as well as the so-called ‘paedophile island’, or Little Saint James.

Nigerians abroad urged to pressurise US government for Madueke's repatriation

Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has urged Nigerians in the United Kingdom (UK) to pressurise the UK government to repatriate former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke to face trial over graft charges.

EFCC Spokesman, Dele Oyewale disclosed that Magu made the call at a Virtual Town Hall Meeting, an interaction with Nigerians in The Diaspora, anchored in London by the Host/Moderator of the group, Ade Omole.

Magu also asked them to support the anti-graft war and expose foreign assets of corrupt politicians by taking advantage of government’s whistle-blowing policy.

“The EFCC needs collaborative engagements with you all,” he said, insisting that Nigerians abroad should assert more pressure on authorities and governments in their countries of residence to prosecute corrupt Nigerians taking refuge in their domains.

He expressed displeasure over the continued huddles being faced by the EFCC to try Allison-Madueke, stressing that Nigerians in the UK should form pressure groups to demand her trial without further delay.

“Nigerians in the United Kingdom need to collaborate with the EFCC more and pressure the UK authorities to assist the EFCC in bringing Diezani to trial. Does it not bother Nigerians in that country that Diezani has not been tried for allegations of corruption against her?

The public ownership of the fight against corruption should not be limited to Nigerians at home. We must all come forward, wherever we are, to insist that corruption must not continue,” he said.He gave accounts of the painstaking works of the EFCC in the conviction and recovery, assuring that the EFCC was on course in the pursuit of its assigned mandate.

“We are on course. In 2020 alone, in spite of the COVID- 19 pandemic, we have secured 213 convictions, which shows the commitment we are putting into the work,” he stressed.

Magu assured Nigerians in The Diaspora of protection of their businesses at home, stressing that local fraudsters frustrating them from investing in the country would henceforth be dealt with.

‘”The EFCC is aware of the frustrations, uncertainties and risks local fraudsters pose to credible businessmen and women abroad, who wish to invest in the Nigerian economy and the commission is ready to offer intelligence services to anyone seeking genuine business partners in Nigeria,” he added.

Responding, participants at the conference, numbering over 500, who were drawn from Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America and other parts of the world, commended the EFCC for its fight against economic and financial crimes

Professor Adebisi Adewole of the University of Scotland commended the EFCC for it efforts to rid Nigeria of corruption, urging the commission to continue it its commitment to free the country of corruption and economic crimes.