The proposed contract extension offered to Onuche Ogbelu by Tunisian side Esperance has been put on hold by the player’s representative after his performance at the club world cup, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Ogbelu verbally agreed to extend his stay with the club for another four years, and was expected to sign the dotted line on the extension after the club world cup, but that is no longer happening at least in the immediate.
His performance at the club world cup has alerted teams in Europe, as he was one of their brightest spark at the tournament despite their exit form the group stages. French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice are said to be heavily interested in signing him.
Nice have already reached out to his representative on the conditions required for the deal to happen, making the 22 year old to pause his plans of extending his deal with the Tunisians.
Although staying at Esperance is still his main priority, the midfielder has a desire to play in mainstream Europe as it will move him closer to his dream of playing for the senior national team of Nigeria.
He was a part of the U20 team of coach Ladan Bosso to the WAFU tournament and also the U20 AFCON two years ago. He was surprisingly omitted from the team for the world cup.
Daniel Martins