Uche Jaguar

Central Defender - Leon U20
15 Oct 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Uche Jaguar

56 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Uche Jaguar sold, and an era ends

$650.0K from Leon for Uche Jaguar. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

The terraces

Ikorodu City sell a favourite for $650.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Uche Jaguar was one of the reasons people came, and $650.0K does not replace that by itself.

Squad

Oladimeji Dada: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Joseph Arumala signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joseph Arumala and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moses Mphekgoane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Katsina United join the queue for Oluwatomisin Adebayo

Add another name to the list: Katsina United have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Oluwatomisin Adebayo. The answer from Ikorodu City has not changed — yet.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Aliu Salawudeen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Shodeinde Moses

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

The Uche Onyemaechi conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Liberty Professionals will make the call about Uche Onyemaechi this week. Ikorodu City have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

Back issues
56 Edition

The Leon Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Rodrigo Echeverría damages knee ligaments — 81 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 81 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Tempers go at Leon

Federico Viñas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Víctor Rojas is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Aderlan wants to finish where he started

Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Leon now know that too.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Nicolás Vallejo

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Nicolás Vallejo the difference as Leon beat Pumas UNAM

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Vallejo. 2‑0 against Pumas UNAM, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Fernando Beltrán in the eights

A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Market

Dorados join the queue for Oliver Melgoza

Add another name to the list: Dorados have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Oliver Melgoza. The answer from Leon has not changed — yet.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nicolás Vallejo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

55 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

The unthinkable, invoiced: Chineme Chinonso sold

IFK Norrkoping arrived with $950.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.

Market

Uche Jaguar asks to leave Ikorodu City

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

David Andrew says Ikorodu City went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

The terraces

Ikorodu City sell a favourite for $950.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Chineme Chinonso was one of the reasons people came, and $950.0K does not replace that by itself.

Market

Shooting Stars come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at Ikorodu City

Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ayomide Cole runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Ikorodu City find a way past Remo Stars

Remo Stars made Ikorodu City work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

54 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ikorodu City turn down FC Augsburg for Uche Jaguar

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

IFK Norrkoping join the queue for Chineme Chinonso

Add another name to the list: IFK Norrkoping have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Chineme Chinonso. The answer from Ikorodu City has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tosin Oyedokun in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Shodeinde Moses falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

Uzoma Chinonso counts the days

“I watch every Ikorodu City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hearts of Oak runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ikorodu City against Barau

0‑1 to Barau, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Moses Mphekgoane

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Uche Onyemaechi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Uche Onyemaechi commits to Ikorodu City for another 3 years.

Player ratings

Ayomide Cole runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

52 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Emmanuel Mathias puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ikorodu City, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ibifubara Dagogo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tosin Oyedokun in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 unbeaten for Ikorodu City

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Ikorodu City did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Shodeinde Moses falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Shodeinde Moses gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

The Gideon Manaseh conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Kairat will make the call about Gideon Manaseh this week. Ikorodu City have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Match

Honours even between Ikorodu City and Warri Wolves

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Gideon Manaseh

A mark of 5.75 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

50 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Uche Jaguar hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Joseph Arumala: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Ikorodu City say no — this time

The offer from Al Ahli for Uche Jaguar was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Tosin Oyedokun in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Shodeinde Moses falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Aliu Salawudeen gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Ikorodu City and Patrick Egeonu are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Player ratings

Shodeinde Moses was the difference for Ikorodu City

Marked 7.85. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Loan watch

Uzoma Chinonso counts the days

“I watch every Ikorodu City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hearts of Oak runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

46 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Uche Jaguar asks to leave Ikorodu City

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Ikorodu City say no — this time

The offer from Bendel Insurance for Samuel Ezekiel was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Tosin Oyedokun in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Shodeinde Moses falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Ikorodu City come up short against Katsina United

Katsina United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Daniel Dennis gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Getting past Michael Atata has become the hardest job in the division

11 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Joseph Arumala

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

An afternoon Tosin Oyedokun will want back

Marked 5.47. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.

In brief

41 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Aliu Salawudeen: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Daniel Dennis stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Dennis and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Ikorodu City

Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

A bad afternoon for Ikorodu City against Wikki Tourists

0‑1 to Wikki Tourists, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Uzoma Chinonso wants to come home

“I did not go to Hearts of Oak to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ikorodu City and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 16 matches say the rest.

In brief

32 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ikorodu City sell their best player to Austin FC

$600.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ayomide Cole

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The terraces

Ikorodu City sell a favourite for $600.0K

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Kelechi Onwe was one of the reasons people came, and $600.0K does not replace that by itself.

Squad

Tempers go at Ikorodu City

Tosin Oyedokun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Ikorodu City cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shodeinde Moses is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Emmanuel Mathias gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Rangers International take the points off Ikorodu City

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Ikorodu City pick somebody else ahead of Chineme Chinonso

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

24 Edition

The Ikorodu City Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Ikorodu City turn down Shooting Stars for Samuel Ezekiel

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Uche Jaguar: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ikorodu City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Real improvement from Mahmoud El Shenawy at Ikorodu City

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mahmoud El Shenawy is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ayomide Cole

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Ikorodu City

Shodeinde Moses was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Samuel Ezekiel stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Ezekiel and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief