Enyimba, agents differ on Iwuala’s $1m price tag

Enyimba Chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu and football agents hoping to lure Anayo Iwuala away from the club this summer have disagreed over the club’s $1m valuation of the star forward.

Iwuala, 22, has caught the attention of clubs across the globe with his eye-catching performances for the People’s Elephant in the Nigeria Professional Football League and the CAF Confederation Cup this season.

Esperance on Tuesday joined the chase to sign the highly-rated winger after they reached an agreement to sign Karim Aribi from Ligue 2 club Nîmes.

But while Enyimba is not prepared to listen to an offer lower than $1m for their most prized asset, agents believe he’s not worth more than $500,000.

Anayo has made three appearances for Nigeria since his cameo appearance against Benin Republic in March.

Anyansi-Agwu said, “We are praying he leaves for a bigger club abroad this summer because of his performances for both club and country.

“I don’t want to go into details of how much he is worth at the moment, but I must tell them he is worth $1m.”

However, Marshal Mbre, a FIFA licenced agent, said the former Delta Force man still needs a year or two with his current form to command such fee.

“He has got the talent no doubt, but that fee is too big for him at the moment.

“No European club will pay such fee for him now; even top African teams won’t be willing to pay such fee,” Mbre stated.

Another Nigerian agent based in South Africa, Mohammed Lawal, said, “Top European teams won’t pay such an amount for a player from the NPFL,” Lawal said.

NP/Mercy Chukwudiebere