Remo Stars have just won the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL), but club owner Kunle Soname doesn’t believe his team is strong enough to do well in the CAF Champions League next season.
Speaking on The Abu Azeez Podcast, Soname said the club needs at least two top-quality strikers to compete in Africa. He also shared his admiration for former Super Eagles and Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo.
“I heard Ighalo said he still wants to play in the NPFL, but I’m not sure if he’s still with his Saudi club,” Soname said. “But no club here can afford him unless he decides to play for passion, not money. If he wants to play, I’d sign him a thousand times. No striker in the NPFL is better than him.”
Ighalo, 36, spent time at Manchester United in 2020 and is widely seen as one of Nigeria’s best-ever strikers. Soname believes that if a player like Ighalo joined Remo Stars, it would greatly boost the club’s chances on the continental stage.
Last season, Anas Yusuf of Nasarawa United was NPFL’s top scorer with 19 goals, but many high-scoring players leave the league quickly to play abroad. This constant movement makes it hard for Nigerian clubs to build strong squads.
The national team for local players, known as CHAN Eagles, lost 1-0 to Senegal in their opening match of the 2024 CHAN tournament. The strikers struggled to make an impact, and Soname’s comments about the lack of quality in the NPFL seem fair in light of that performance.