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Adarabioyo: Man United was never my option

In his first interview since the defender’s pending arrival was confirmed, Tosin Adarabioyo gives Blues fans a flavour of what to expect, his footballing journey and his relentless desire to win.

Having been taken on a tour of Chelsea’s state-of-the-art training ground following the completion of his medical, centre-back Tosin is clearly beaming at the prospect of what lies ahead.

The 26-year-old has enjoyed a fruitful career so far and despite not yet donning the famous Blue shirt of Chelsea, the club is intertwined with his footballing story.

Born at St. Mary’s Hospital just three miles away from Stamford Bridge, Tosin described this moment as his life coming ‘full circle’ as he sits surrounded by the echoes of epic victories and the promise of much more to come.

Tosin opened: ‘Growing up, Chelsea has always been a club that have performed well and one that have had great players and teams to watch. Chelsea have won big trophies and long may it continue.

‘I’m here to win. I want to win. It’s as simple as that really. I just want to keep working and pushing the team and the club in the direction we want to go in. I’m excited to get going.’

Moving to Manchester at a young age, Tosin joined Manchester City at the age of five, captaining their youth sides throughout his journey up the ranks, while also meeting the Blues on several occasions, including in back-to-back FA Youth Cup finals at Stamford Bridge.

More recently, Tosin made his professional debut in 2016 against Chelsea during an FA Cup quarter-final clash at the Bridge and, although he was on the losing side, the towering centre-half was praised for his performance.

‘If you can’t beat them, join them!’ Tosin laughed. ‘‘Chelsea have always had a best-in-class reputation, so I know what this club is all about.

‘I came up against a full-strength Chelsea squad that day – it was amazing! A tough game but to make my debut against the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Pedro and Willian was a great experience.

‘‘I played quite well and was named Man City’s player of the match which was nice.’

It was during this time at the Etihad that he met current Blues players Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling, and also trained alongside new Chelsea coach with Willy Caballero.

‘I spent two or three years with Raz and Willy, and I spent most of my youth journey with Cole,’ he explained.

‘Before confirming the move, I gave Raz and Cole a call and they had nothing but positive things to say about the club and the project, and how excited they were that I was coming to the club.

‘Cole is younger than me but I remember him from younger days alongside a few of the other boys that I’ve met along the way like Ben Chilwell – Chilly and I were both captains in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals. I also know Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja because he spent time at Fulham.’

Since then, Tosin has established himself as a reliable, commanding and composed defender across two loan spells at West Brom and Blackburn Rovers, and then at our West London neighbours Fulham.

‘I’ve developed leaps and bounds,’ he continued. ‘I’ve become a man and established myself as a top Premier League centre-half. That’s why I’ve joined Chelsea.

‘Being a leader comes to me naturally. It’s something that is required of a centre-half. It’s an important responsibility. I want to come here and push the boys on as much as we can.’

Looking to the future, Tosin is eager to finally play at the Bridge as part of the home side and is relishing the chance to work under the tutelage of new head coach Enzo Maresca.

‘I’m looking forward to starting work with Enzo and I’m sure the boys are too,’ he added.

‘It’s going to be exciting. We’re going to play good football and win a lot of games. There are top players in this squad and I’m eager to play with them all.’

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King Ademola Lookman Brings Out His Love

Like his father opened up, Ademola Lookman is essentially a private person, who prefers to do his stuff without all the media blitz.

But on one of his biggest days, when he was crowned Africa’s best player, he could not but make the first public appearance with the woman in his life – Jayda Love.

‘Adebobo’ would even steal a moment on his big night to kiss his American beau.

The 27-year-old Super Eagles star is still single.

Rumours of this romance first surfaced in the summer when the couple appeared to have spent the holidays together.

This was after ‘Mola’ scored his unforgettable hat-trick for Atalanta to win the UEFA Europa League in super style.

Jayda, an Information Technology specialist is based in Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with a degree in public relations.

She follows Ademola Lookman and his foundation on social media.

She is also known to have visited him at his Italian base.

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FIFA Rankings: Nigeria’s Super Eagles End 2024 Ahead Of Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have ended 2024 ranked as Africa’s fifth-best team in FIFA’s latest global standings, released Thursday morning, Soccernet.ng reports.

Despite a challenging end to the year that saw the team drop eight places to 44th globally, the Super Eagles still managed to hold their own against eternal continental rivals like South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana.

This year’s ranking represents a mixed bag for Nigeria. While the team retained its fifth spot in Africa, their decline in global rankings was driven by underwhelming performances in key fixtures.

Most notably, the Super Eagles struggled during the final rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, securing just a solitary point in lackluster outings against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Nigeria were forced to a scored draw by the Cheetahs in Abidjan only for Samuel Chukwueze’s excellent strike to end up as consolation in a 2-1 home defeat to the Wasps.

Looking at year-to-year standings, at this time in 2023, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were ranked 42nd in the world but sixth on the continent.

Elsewhere, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana showed marked improvement, climbing th

Cameroon and Ghana, however, endured disappointing campaigns. Ghana’s Black Stars finished the year ranked 77th, a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles within the Black Stars setup.

At the continental summit, Morocco retained their status as the continent’s best, finishing as Africa’s top-ranked team in 14th place globally.

Senegal (17th), Egypt (33rd), and Algeria (37th) rounded out the top four, with Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, and South Africa completing the top 10.

Globally, Argentina retained their position as FIFA’s top-ranked team, followed by France, Spain, England, and Brazil.

With 1,181 international matches played across the calendar year, the rankings reflected consistent dominance from the world’s elite teams.

As Nigeria enter 2025, all eyes will be on the Super Eagles to reignite their competitive spark, with the World Cup qualifiers returning in the first quarter of the year.

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Mbappé: Would Have Been ‘Fun’ To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé has said he wishes he could have played with Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, the club’s all-time leading scorer.

The France international has been a teammate of other football icons but would have relished playing alongside Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Portugal captain.

“I’ve played with great players: Lionel Messi, Neymar, [Antoine] Griezmann, [Paul] Pogba, [Karim] Benzema…” Mbappé told BeINsports.

“It would have been fun to play with Cristiano Ronaldo — it’s going to be very difficult now — but I was lucky enough to play against him, a legend of the sport.”

Ronaldo, 39, left the Spanish giants in 2018 now plays for Saudi Pro-League side Al Nassr.

Mbappé helped Madrid win the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, his second title since joining the Spanish giants in the summer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired.

Speaking to young people with disabilities as part of the BeUNITED program, Mbappe, 25, said he would have never left Paris Saint-Germain had it not been to join Madrid.

“I went to the biggest club in the world,” the 2018 World Cup winner said.

“I have always said that it was the only club I would have left PSG for. If I hadn’t been able to go to Madrid, I would have stayed at PSG all my life.”

Although Mbappé has been prolific for Madrid so far, he has faced criticism for his all-round performances with the team having suffered some high-profile defeats earlier in the season.

“Since I was 14, everyone told me I was going to be great,” Mbappé said.

“But when you’re big, sometimes you feel small…At first I was too hungry and it played tricks on me because I was impatient. But I have passion and this competitive side.

“My dream now is to win trophies with my team, not individual awards. What great title is left for me? The Champions League, but I’m in the best club in the world for that.”