Nigeria forward Josh Maja has rejected a move to Sky Bet Championship club, Birmingham City, reports Completesports.com.
Birmingham City, according to transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano tabled a bid for Maja on Tuesday and offered him a five-year contract.
But the Nigerian has now turned down the Blues offer and opted to remain with Girondis Bordeaux.
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The 23-year-old, who opened his account for the Ligue 2 campaign on Tuesday, instead signed a two-year extension which will see him paid 50% of his wages next June, at which point he will also have the option to leave on a free should the club fail to secure promotion.
Maja spent the second half of last season on loan at Stoke City where he scored two goals in 17 league appearances.
He joined Bordeaux from Sunderland in 2019.
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COMMENTS
That’s what we are talking about very AMBITIOUS GUY who wants a BETTER DEAL and a BIG MOVE instead…
And HE felt there was no point leaving a LEAGUE 2 CLUB in FRANCE for another in ENGLAND…
That’s my man! They want to devalue you and destroy your hard-won confidence by putting you in a basket of mediocrity. If you put a fresh apple in a basket of rotten apples will it not spoil?
What are you smoking this man? Maja was looking forward to joining Birmingham City but both parties could not just agree terms. Maja is currently playing in division two in France. is that better than the English Championship.
Stop being ignorant my guy.
@Ignatius Abo you have a point but Bordeaux has more pedigree in european ball than Birmigham City let us be honest
I see your point @Ugo.
Maja’s Bordeaux was only recently relegated. Birmingham City has been in the championship for the last 10 years. Maja is successful in Bordeaux with the players he knows and knows him. A movement sideways is typical of Nigerian players. While their peers move upwards, Nigerian players like snakes move sideways. And you are here supporting this! If I’m smoking you are definitely sniffing some dubious substance up your nose.
Stop chatting shit Tristan. Very many players move sideways in transfer windows so it is not only Nigerian players. Jesse Lingard, moved from Manchester United to Nottingham Forest, Raheem Sterling moved to Chelsea from Manchester City which some would argue is a downward movement. Let footballers go to where they see fit. Stop tarring Nigerian players with a dirty brush simply because you want all of them to go to Real Madrid. Is it that easy? If it was that easy, you Tristan will be analysing games for Supersports rather than in a faceless forum. Is Tristan even your name? Your arguments are always fundamentally flawed. You make statements that are baseless. Going from division 2 in France to Birmingham City would have been a decent move for Maja. Pure and simple. Not every player will move to Manchester City.
A man with no argument becomes abusive. Obviously, you’ve never left Nigeria. I’m talking about Nigerian players who are foreign to the leagues they play in, and not culturally attuned. Look at you talking about Jesse Lingard who grew up in England from the ManU academy level coached and plays in a style attuned to English football and you want to compare him to Nigerians.
A transfer move in football is always risky for the player. Players are usually transferred when they are at the highest success with their current club. However, a player’s success depends on other players, especially strikers! You can even fail at a club because of intrapersonal issues or dressing room politics.
If you move upwards to a better club and fail, you can always go down to your previous level. If you move sideways or downwards and fail, you end up below the level at which you found success. Meaning clubs spend money on transfers that they want to recoup. A failure would lead to a quick transfer or loan to any club willing to pay, and usually those willing to pay for a failing player are those in a lower league.
My friend your analysis lacks depth, the problem with it is you think all black players are treated equally. In England there is a ranking, those who are British born and play for England are ranked highest, and it’s reflected in transfer fees.
Lingard who you mentioned has been playing as center-forward in the place of Awoniyi. Lingard is really a ‘false 9’ or attacking midfielder while Awoniyi has been coming off the bench. Even though Lingard joined at the same time, Lingard has had more starting games than Forest’s record signing. When Man City gave Forest a 6-0 drubbing Awoniyi (and Dennis)did not come on until the 58th minute when the score was 4-0. Exactly what are they supposed to achieve in 30 minutes? Except getting demoralized. In the meantime, Union Berlin is second in the Bundesliga.
Awoniyi joins Iheanacho(5 years on the bench) and others as substitutes in the premier league. This phenomenon with Nigerian players is unique to the premier league.
Keep it short Tristan. The fact remains that players of all nationalities move upward, downward or sideways….. Many factors inform a player’s transfer. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. If you want Nigerian players to always have priority, why not improve your own league like North African or South Africa’s leagues. At least you guys are the so called giants of Africa. It’s high time you start to lead by example rather than expecting Europeans to help you develop your players only to rub it back on their faces with baseless allegations of racism….
Please, add quality to your analysis rather than all these baseless allegations of racism towards Nigerian players and poor choice of clubs by Nigerian players.
If things will work for Awoniyi in Nottingham Forest, it will, if not he will have to find a home elsewhere. Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling saw their chances limited in Manchester City hence the moved. Misfortune happens to all players regardless of nationality. Some players just hit the ground running while others just need time.
Get it right.
It is hard to make a short argument when faced with structural and historical ignorance. I work in a statistical field and I know when I see a unique statistical pattern, which you’re trying to excuse as widespread. Nigerian players usually succeed outside England and fail in England. I’ve kept it short.
Yeah, like Mikel, Nwankwo Kanu, Okocha and Olofijana fell in England. Negative mindset will only generate negative examples. Na only Etebo play in England. Even Ighalo was successful in certain seasons in Watford and Manchester United…… LMAO
Nwankwo Kanu for all the noise rarely started games for Arsenal, he was like Iheanacho. Dennis Bergkamp was preferred over him. Obi Mikel was used as a defensive midfielder like Ndidi for Chelsea, emphasizing physicality over skill. Ighalo successful at ManU? You’re joking he played very few games and never secured a shirt.
Let’s start from a logical point, shall we?
Is the current performance of Nigerian SE players in the premier league satisfactory to you?
If it is, we have no argument except on standards of expectations. If it isn’t then either the lapses are coming from the players or are structural from the league.
I contend it is the latter, and state there is a prejudice displayed mainly by English managers uniquely directed against Nigerian players.
With that out of the way, I now know you and you me. Let’s see how the future unfolds in confirming our viewpoints.
Let’s call a spade a spade. Today’s generation of Nigeria players lack ambition. I’m going to juxtaposed this current set of SE with the club of SE of 2000 NC.
Right back: Gbenga Okunowo (Barcelona)
Left Back: Celestine Babayaro (Chelsea)
Central defenders: Taribo west( Inter milan)
Defender: Godwin okpara (PSG)
Midfielders
Sunday Olise (Juventus)
Austin okocha( PSG)
Mutiu Adepoju (Real Sociedad)
Finding George ( Real betis)
Attackers
Kanu Nwankwo (Arsenal)
Victor ikpeba(Monaco)
Compare this with what we have currently going on with our players.
The entire central defense line with the exception of Calvin Bassey play in division 2. Ekong is a bench warmer.
Tristan, unless you want me to repeat myself. I already acknowledged that some Nigerian players are struggling for game time in England. My argument is that this is due to intense competition which is affecting players of all nationalities. I gave the example of a Brazilian Jesus and an English Sterling who made sideways movements this season because they experienced the same difficulties. Even Ivory Coast Pepe and France Lacazette left Arsenal for better prospects.
So this difficulty is not limited to Nigerian players in England. Heck, Shit loads of England born players are playing in the Championship and Division 3 because they even struggle to make the same bench that the likes of Iheanacho are making…… Many young English players have left football all together only to be stacking shelves in Supermarkets because they can’t compete. Na only Nigerian players you see..
Competition is affecting players of all nationalities, my friend.
Well I am not surprised English Born player.. They are a different breed to indigenous born when it comes to ball. Let us tell the truth and shame the devil.
These guys have a different drive to be the best even the ones that are not as talented as some locally born players yet they believe knowing full well more money will come when and if they are at a different level. guys like Ndidi Ihenacho, Osimehen (If time is not taken) will just become another WHat IF!.. This thing is like a curse or what. How can we have decended to this level of lack of self belief in our own quality. Look at etebo not to long ago moving to Stoke City in championship after such a good World Cup 2018 tournament when we all though he had more ambition
Etebo is very typical, he had two successful seasons at Feirense, then he decided to move! Not upwards on a higher level but sideways to the same level from Primera Liga to the 2nd division championship with Stoke City. Stoke bought him and then sent him on loan left right and center. Where is he now?
What we’re trying to tell these players is if you’re successful in your current club and you’re not moving up don’t take the risk of moving sideways or down, because a new club will usually play differently and require establishing relationships. A career can be destroyed in one season. When Bassey moved to Ajax, he moved up; when Osimhen moved to Napoli he moved up; same with Lookman to Atalanta.
Dey no gree hia!
Another flawed logic Tristan. What didn’t work for Etebo might work for another player. Etebo joined Stoke City because they had ambitions of returning to the English Premier League and they had faith in Etebo to help them fulfill their goals. Okay, it didn’t exactly work out, so bloody what? Must you now use that singular example all of the time??? It was this same platform that people criticized Sadiq Umar’s move to division 2 in Spain 3 seasons ago from a division one club. Many called it sideways and regression. See life today. The same Sadiq is playing against Barcelona and Real Madrid. What didn’t work out for Etebo worked out for Umar.
My guy stop been negative towards Nigerian players. Think deep before talking.
Your problem is you think I’m being negative to Nigerian players, on the contrary, I’m more positive about their abilities than you are.
My intention is not to abuse them or anyone, but to alert them about the importance of career planning and the risks attached to certain leagues, especially the English Premier League.
I’m not concerned about Stoke City’s plans like you are, I’m concerned about Etebo’s. Stoke City received Etebo when he was at the highest performance, and they’ve reduced him to a journeyman. English football emphasizes physicality and running, the lower in the league you go the more these qualities are emphasized.
Nigerian football is ball skill-based, slower in pace with more tactical thinking; this is similar to Italian football. The English league is different, and a player needs optimum physical fitness with little emphasis on ball skills. African players are mostly valued for physicality, as defensive midfielders or bustling aggressive center-forwards.
Sadiq has only just started his journey, despite all the noise, only Real Sociedad was prepared to buy him, a move sideways. We will see how he gets on but he is no example for your shallow argument. He has taken the risk of leaving a club where he is successful and known.
As to other premier league examples, Etebo, Iheanacho, Awoniyi, Onyeka, Kalu all born in Nigeria playing from the bench.
This premier league attachment of SE was a result of dstv airing mostly PL matches in Nigeria. when dstv wasn’t around there was nothing like PL attachment
If your analysis about Nigerian players unsuitability to English league is anything to go by, then very slow players like Mikel and Nwankwo Kanu would never have been two of the most successful footballers ever to come out of Nigeria with multiple medals in their cabinet.
Your analysis, however elaborate, holds no water. Even Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast was never the quickest, still he remains a legend.
Okay if Sadiq Umar moves to Sociedad it will be sideways, what is the percentage of player who moved upwards in this entire window? Please go and buy Sprite and drink it, your brain needs a recharge.
It is true that a lot of Nigerian players are featuring from the bench. This has far more to do with the competition they face rather than their skills. Even going by your logic, is it players like Iheanacho, Ndidi, Onyeka and Kalu that you expect to be making upward movements when they are even struggling to play regularly where they are. Lol.
You are caught in a web of confusion of your own logic. Hahahaha!
Guy, rest this matter a beg.
I’m going to end this thread and address @Mercy’s reply to me as well. In every athletic sporting endeavor, Nigerians have excelled over other Africans. In the NBA, we’ve had from Olajuwon to Antetokunmpo, in the US NFL we have so many players.
In athletics, our accomplishments in the fast-running events overwhelm that of other Africans.
The only place today where we have a mediocre achievement in sport is the English premier league. In other football leagues, we continue to impress on a generational basis, especially over other African countries.
It is my argument and contention that Nigerian players are faced with a uniquely prejudicial attitude in the English premier league. A wise man would reflect on this rather than aggressively argue against it.
The examples you’ve raised do not refute my argument as they shallowly skim over their actual game-time achievements. Most of the early Nigerian players were raised to higher pedestals than they deserved for breaking into the premier league. Most of the time Nwankwo Kanu played as a substitute, he never commanded a regular shirt for Arsenal.
What we see today, is not a lack of ability but the uncloaking of a prevalent attitude. My aim, which I’ve achieved despite your insults is to raise this as a matter of conversation and attention.
Whether I’m right or wrong, by raising the matter I enable the focus of attention on it. So as long as I see Nigerian players being devalued by the premier league I’ll continue to raise it as a matter of discriminatory treatment.
Tristan, Paston Daka is currently chopping bench in Leicester and he is Zambia. The English Premier league is littered with players of all nationalities struggling in one manner or the other. Even England born players including those that recently won their Under 17 and Under 20 world cups have struggled to even make the bench in the English Premer League.
Let me give you an interesting statistics, of 23 players that won the 2017 Under 20 world cup for England, only 3 of them are currently playing in the English Premer League. of 23 players that won the 2017 Under 17 world cup for England, less than 6 of them are currently playing in the English Premer League. What happened to 37 world cup winning young England players? Do they all lack ambition??? Are England discriminating their own players? How come most of those underage England world cup players did not secure contracts with Real Madrid, Manchester City Juventus etc…?
Na only Nigerian players you see. Even England born players, White and Black are struggling to break into the English Premer League…..
Nigeria is not producing exceptional talents.
Is Onyeka exceptional?Is Ndidi exceptional?Is Iheanacho exceptional?
Is Awoniyi like Haaland?Is Ekong exceptional? Lolzzzz
My guy, if your Nigerian players are exceptional, they will not be struggling in England. Tough competition is the greatest problem affecting Nigerian players not any stupid conspiracy theories…..
Let’s be honest apart from Ndidi, Osimhen, Zaidu, and Calvin…..How many world class players do we have? and if Ndidi doesn’t move to another club to challenge himself, only God knows.
But BRO why would you like to be calling NDIDI a WORLD CLASS PLAYER?
I have watched NDIDI time without number and dude still gat so much to improve on before he reaches that height…