Arsenal legend Ian Wright has heaped praise on Odion Ighalo, who has made a quick impression following his loan move to Manchester United. The Nigeria international made the move to the Red Devils from Shanghai Shenhua during the dying stages of the January transfer window and there were definitely doubts whether he can live up to the expectations.

Leicester City playmaker James Maddison has said that teammate Wilfried Ndidi is the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League this season. The Nigeria international has been in top form since the beginning of the campaign and he is currently the top tackler in the Premier League with 61 while he has also made the most recoveries in the process (37).

As such, he has been lauded by several fans and pundits and Maddison has no doubts regarding his teammates’ abilities on the playing field, he told Football Daily: “I think he’s the best in the Premier League at tackling and winning the ball back, bar none. I know [N’Golo] Kante is a brilliant player and there are players like that. But actually winning the ball back and taking the ball off the opposition, I don’t think there is anyone better than Wilfred. Sometimes you get a player like that and what he does doesn’t get on the back page of the papers, doesn’t get talked about on Match of the Day.”

Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has said that it was difficult to ignore a call-up from the England national side after they came calling for his services. The centre-back has been a revelation for the Blues since making the breakthrough under Frank Lampard this term and he is currently regarded as an undisputed starter in the league and Europe.

The sugar daddies of the beautiful game are mostly found in the Middle East for a reason: they have money and they are looking for where to spend it. From France to England they have taken over one or two clubs and caused disruption as far as footballing power dynamics go.

Among the money bags though, Qatar is setting a precedent by hosting the most expensive World Cup ever. Last year’s world cup did hold that title for a while when it was revealed that Russia spent $15 billion to make sure Putin got to show the world that Russians do eat and take shits this same way the rest of the world does. Qatar did decide to raise the standard by a tiny bit: they are spending $220 billion.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that he has been impressed with the determination of Christian Pulisic since joining the team in pre-season training. The United States international was initially expected to join the squad towards the end of the month after the Gold Cup exploits, but he has chosen to cut short the holiday by a couple of weeks.

Speaking to Goal.com, Lampard acknowledged that he has been impressed with what he has seen of Pulisic over the past few days, but the attacker would still require time to adapt to the new league, he said: “Good, he has been here a couple of days really in terms of training, so have been really impressed. He’s comfortable on the ball and I think he should have had a penalty towards the end of the game. He wants to try to take people on, the sort of player the fans are going to like so we have to give him a little bit of time to adapt slightly. But the way he has trained, the way he has come in with his personality looks great so I am really pleased to have him.”

Chelsea left-back Emerson has said that Ruben Loftus-Cheek has the credentials to become of the world’s best in the future. The England international barely featured for the Blues during the first half of the season, but he has been more prominent in the latter part where he has commanded a regular starting role.

In a report covered by Goal.com, Emerson said that he has enjoyed playing alongside Loftus-Cheek and Eden Hazard on the left side of the field since becoming a regular choice for the league duties. He added that the latter can become one of the most important footballers in the world and will surely make progress in the forthcoming years.

Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis has said that he has no concerns with the ongoing criticism from the club’s faithful and he is only focused at the job at hand at the club. The Riverside outfit have recently gone through a run of five successive defeats which have dropped them out of the playoff positions, and this has resulted in growing anger from the supporters, who want Pulis to be dismissed from the head coach role.

Speaking in a press conference, Pulis has indicated that he has no concerns regarding the fan outburst, given they are obliged to voice their opinions on the club’s poor run of form. He added that his focus only remains on the players at the moment and he is optimistic over a turnaround during the final seven games of the season.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has said that he cannot explain the Blues’ disappointing league defeat at Everton on Sunday. The Blues were widely fancied to pick up the three points to enhance their top four pursuit but they could not manage to do so with Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring for the Toffees in a strong second half performance.

Speaking after the game, Sarri indicated that he has no idea regarding the club’s disappointing second half performance after dominating the proceedings at the beginning. He added that the result has nothing to do with motivation or tactics and the players may have suffered a mental block after watching the Toffees increased workrate in the second period.

The captain of the Super Eagles has escaped a crash which could be extremely fatal to the player. The plane which he had gone was grounded due to the failure in the engine, the other players of Middlesborough had some risk involved in them and the team had to cancel the flight from the Newport Country.

John Obi Mikel, the veteran defensive mid-fielder appearing in over 200 league games till now with Chelsea since 2006. The team was going out to the next fixture of the league and this comes at a time when the world of Football was already mourning the death of the signing of Cardiff City, Sala. They had finished with their 2 – 0 defeat in the FA Cup.

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has highlighted that the ‘family club’ atmosphere at Middlesbrough had played a prime role in him making the switch. The Nigeria international had been a free-agent following the expiry of his contract with Tianjin TEDA in November last year and this saw him linked with several high-profile teams including AS Roma and Wolfsburg.

However, after weeks of speculation, the Super Eagles skipper has decided to join Boro on a short-term contract and speaking to the club’s official website, Mikel has indicated that the atmosphere around the Riverside outfit tempted him to pursue a Champions League challenge, he said: “For me it’s looking at the project. I spoke to a few clubs and I also spoke to Tony [Pulis], had a good chat with him. He’s told me where he wants to go with it and it definitely fits with what I want to do. The club wants to get promoted so hopefully I’m here to help in any way I can. It’s a family club and this is what I want. I like stability and this is why I was at Chelsea for a very long time.”