Nigeria’s D’Tigress went down to a 70-62 defeat against Serbia in their second pre-Olympic friendly on Sunday.

Rena Wakama’s side trailed behind with a 6-point deficit, 21-15, in the first quarter.

Serbia maintained their dominance in the second quarter, extending their lead by 10 points, 39-29.

The Europeans retained their 10-point lead in the third quarter, 55-45.

Serbia pulled through to maintain their lead in the fourth quarter to seal victory in the contest.

D’Tigress will face Japan in the last friendly in Lille on Wednesday.

Nigeria will face Australia, France and Japan in Paris.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has named his 26-man squad for their preseason tour in the US.

Gunners captain Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Jesus have been included in the travelling team.

Arteta’s men will face Bournemouth on July 24 in Los Angeles, before taking on Manchester United on July 27 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

They round off with a game against Liverpool in Philadelphia on July 31.

Jurriën Timber, who missed all of last season through injury, has also been named in the squad.

Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko will be part of the tour too despite playing at Euro 2024.

Gabriel Magalhães, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz will join the squad on July 25.

Kwara United have revealed plans for close camping ahead of the 2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League season.

The Harmony Boys General Manager, Bashir Badawiy, disclosed this in Ilorin.

Badawiy said that the club will seek the state government’s approval for close camping in Offa.

He pointed out out that the Zeems Sports Arena would be their destination for the exercise.

Kwara United are scheduled to take part in a pre-season tournament in Ikenne.

Kabiru Dogo’s side will square up against Niger Tornadoes in their opening fixture of the new season.

The new season is billed to kick-off on Saturday, July 30.

Football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has dismissed reports that Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne has agreed on a deal to leave Etihad Stadium for Al Ittihad.

Reports had earlier emerged that De Bruyne had reached an agreement with the Saudi Arabian club this summer transfer window.

However, in a tweet on X, Romano dismissed the report, branding it as not true.

He disclosed that the Saudi Arabian club are instead interested in signing De Bruyne’s Manchester City teammate, Ederson.

“Saudi sources playing down reports about Kevin de Bruyne reaching an agreement with Al Ittihad — told it’s NOT true.

“Al Ittihad are focused on Moussa Diaby deal, set to be sealed very soon.

“Next step for Saudi club will be new goalkeeper with Éderson talks on but not easy,” Romano tweeted on Sunday.

Oginni Olatunbosun is attracting interest from Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, side, Kano Pillars.

Olatunbosun is reported to have reached a verbal agreement with the Sai Masu Gida.

The experienced defender is expected at the Pyramid City later this week to finalise his move.

The newly appointed Kano Pillars tactician, Paul Offor is understood to be a huge fan of the defender.

Olatunbosun is expected to be a key player for the former NPFL champions.

He previously played for Wikki Tourists, Akwa United, Kwara United and Nasarawa United.

Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, outfit, Lobi Stars have released samples of their new jerseys for the 2024/25 season.

As a way of engaging fans and ensuring that they become part of the success stories of the club, the management has given fans the opportunity to choose three sets of jerseys from the pool of designs that will be used by the club.

The jerseys also has stripes that represents the predominantly spoken tribes in Benue State (Tiv, Idoma and Igede).

Fans have been given a one-week window to make their choices.

Lobi Stars finished last season in sixth position.

The Makurdi club will open their campaign with an home fixture against Akwa United.

Ex-Real Madrid striker, Joselu Mato, has snubbed former team-mates Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr when choosing who to win the Ballon d’Or this year.

According to Joselu, defender Dani Carvajal deserves it the most.

Carvajal scored in the Champions League final as Real defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0.

The 32-year-old transferred that form to the international stage with Spain as they won Euro 2024 in Germany.

Speaking to AS, Joselu said: “I have always said it, he [Carvajal] is the one who deserves it the most.

“He has won everything there is to win, scoring goals, being important, MVP in finals (at Wembley)… He would be more than deserved.”

Real Madrid’s latest big-name signing, Kylian Mbappe, is not the highest-paid player in La Liga.

Mbappe is, however, the top earner at the Bernabeu ahead of Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.

According to The Sun, the 25-year-old is behind two Barcelona players in the league.

Frenkie de Jong is LaLiga’s top earner with an annual wage of £31.6 million.

De Jong’s team-mate Robert Lewandowski is in second place on a reported £28.2m.

Then Mbappe at £26.3m per season.

LaLiga’s top 10 highest player salaries per season:

Frenkie de Jong £31.6m

Robert Lewandowski £28.2m

Kylian Mbappe £26.3m

David Alaba £19m

Jan Oblak £17.5m

Vinicius Jnr £17.5m

Jude Bellingham £15.8m

Ilkay Gundogan £14m

Federico Valverde £12.6m

Thibaut Courtois £12.2m

Princess Ademiluyi has joined Charlton Athletics on loan from West Ham United for the 2024/25 season.

Ademiluyi only signed her first professional contract with West Ham last week.

The 18-year-old has been with the Hammers from a young age.

The forward joined Charlton to gain further valuable first-team experience in the Barclays Women’s Championship – the second tier of women’s football in England.

“I feel amazing, it’s the best birthday that I could have wished for,” Ademiluyi told the club’s official website.

“I am very excited to play in the Championship because it’s competitive and can help me find my form and grow into the player I want to be.”

Bologna defender, Riccardo Calafiori, has set his mind on a move to Arsenal this summer.

According to Sky Sports, a couple of clubs have tried to hijack the Gunners’ attempt to sign the Italy international.

It is believed Real Madrid, Juventus and another Premier League club spoke to Calafiori in the last 10 days.

However, Calafiori has given his word to Arsenal and will not consider another team.

Arsenal is close to agreeing on a deal in principle with Bologna for the player, who shone at Euro 2024.

Bologna has been holding out for £42m for the player.