Nigerian striker Brown Ideye joins Greek club Aris Saloniki, Umar gets another loan deal and Ozornwafor makes a big move

Steve Dede 11:56 - 05 July 2019

Brown Ideye (Instagram/Brown Ideye)

A look at the transfers of some Nigerian players in recent days.

Nigerian striker Brown Ideye is looking to revive his career in Greece where he has joined Aris Saloniki on a one-season contract.

Ideye has been without a club since his contract at Chinese Super League Club (CSL) side Tianjin TEDA expired in December 2018.

The 30-year-old has also played any competitive game for a year since he left Malaga after a loan stint at the end of the 2017/2018 season.

But the striker is now ready for another chapter in his career with a new move to Aris Saloniki.

Brown Ideye says the new move is a start to another chapter in his career (Instagram/Brown Ideye)

"It's an exciting time for me to return to Greece with Aris for what I hope will be a great chapter," Ideye told BBC Sport.

It’s a return to Greece for the Rivers State-born striker who spent two years with Olympiacos where he won a league title.

"I have good memories from my time in Greece and I believe everything is possible with this move,” Ideye also said.

"I can't look back now to what could have been, I have a positive feeling about this and I feel grateful for the opportunity."

Ideye started his career in Nigeria with Bayelsa United and Ocean Boys before he moved to Europe where he has played for the likes of Dynamo Kyiv and West Brom.

The striker who has 27 caps for the Super Eagles of Nigeria was part of the squad that won Nigeria’s third Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title in South Africa 2013.

Umar gets another loan deal

Sadiq Umar has gone on another loan move from AS Roma, this time to Serbia (Instagram/Sadiq Umar)

In a related development, Nigerian striker Sadiq Umar has joined Serbian Super Liga side Partixan Belgrade on loan until the end of the season from parent club AS Roma.

It is Umar’s seventh loan move away from the club what he first joined in 2015. He spent last season under Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard at Rangers.

Ozornwafor makes big move

Valentine Ozornwafor leaves Galatasaray just after two months he joined the Turkish club from Enyimba (Instagram/Galatasaray)

Valentine Ozornwafor has joined Galatasaray (Instagram/Galatasaray)

In another transfer news, young Super Eagles defender Valentine Ozornwafor has joined Turkish giants Galatasaray on a four-year deal to continue his remarkable rise.

Just a year ago, Ozornwafor was an unknown name but his career has experienced a quantum leap that has seen him sign for one of Europe's most popular clubs.

He was signed by Enyimba in 2017 but he was invited to play for the Flying Eagles even before he played a professional game.

He was Nigeria’s standout player at the 2019 U20 Africa Cup of Nations and later at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup.

In between those tournaments, he was given a Super Eagles call-up and featured for Nigeria’s U23 side.