August 07, (THEWILL) – The high expectations of home-based Super Eagles winger, Anayo Iwuala, to secure a foreign contract and ship out of the country during this Summer transfer season due to his elevation to the senior men’s national team has been hampered by factors such as his reported valuation by Enyimba International, his domestic club.
Felix Anyansi-Agwu, the club Chairman, has been at variance with several football agents that are desirous to lure Iwuala away from the club this summer. The crux of their disagreements have hinged on agreeing to value the player at Enyimba’s $1m asking fee.
The 22-year-old impressed watchers and scouts across the globe with his eye-catching display and consistent top performances for the People’s Elephant of Aba in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation Cup tournament.
The player’s reliability to deliver consistently was responsible for his inclusion in the star-studded Super Eagles squad after German coach, Gernot Rohr invited him as one of a limited number of home-based players to feature in the team.
On Tuesday, the number of clubs invested in recruiting Iwuala grew with the open interest of Tunisian club Esperance. Their intention was made known with their wish for the highly-rated winger to combine withe Karim Aribi, whom they signed from Ligue 2 club Nîmes in France.
However, Enyimba has shown a determination not to listen to any offers lower than the $1m valuation of their most prized asset. The hurdle facing a move for the player now is that agents believe Iwuala is, at best, worth about $500,000 to them.
It is an estimate that Enyimba is not prepared to do business on Iwuala for. This is especially as the winger has made three appearances for Nigeria since his cameo appearance against Benin Republic in March and that has increased his value.
Anyansi-Agwu, Enyimba’s President said, “We are praying he leaves for a bigger club abroad this summer because of his performances for both club and country. I don’t want to go into details of how much he is worth at the moment, but I must tell them he is worth $1m.”
In a reaction to that, Marshal Mbre, a FIFA-licenced agent, said the former Delta Force man still needs a year or two with his current form to command such fee, in his opinion: “He has got the talent no doubt, but that fee is too big for him at the moment.
“No European club will pay such fee for him now; even top African teams won’t be willing to pay such fee.”
It is a view that had found congruence in another Nigerian agent based in South Africa, Mohammed Lawal. In trying to counsel Enyimba on their insistence, Lawal said, “Top European teams won’t pay such an amount for a player from the NPFL.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
