Former Super Eagles forward Brown Ideye is close to sealing a move to Nigeria Premier Football League giants Enyimba, www.aclsports.com reports.
Ideye, 36, has been without a club since leaving Kuwaiti side Al Yarmouk in 2022 but he is now set to stage a return to Nigeria’s top flight, taking after former international teammates Ahmed Musa and Abdullahi Shehu who are currently playing for Kano Pillars.
ACLSports sources revealed that Ideye was impressed by the proposition sent by Enyimba coach Yemi Olanrewaju who believes the former Dynamo Kyiv striker could solve his side’s niggling goalscoring problem.
Ideye was on the verge of joining former league champions Rivers United in October but the move collapsed at the latter stages after both parties failed to agree on contractual intricacies. This is not expected to happen this time as sources claim that Ideye is already looking forward to the new adventure.
ACLSports also scooped that African football legend Nwankwo Kanu, the Enyimba chairman also influenced Ideye’s coming to the club, with both men rekindling their acquaintance having represented Nigeria together at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Should the move sail through, it will be a return to the Nigerian domestic scene for 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner Ideye, seventeen years after he left the league after winning with Ocean Boys of Bayelsa in 2006.
Enyimba have two matches crucial to their domestic and continental aspirations in the next five days after which Ideye is expected to join the People’s Elephant on a short-term deal till the end of the season.
They face Sunshine Stars in a rescheduled league game in Aba on Wednesday before travelling to Maputo, Mozambique for their third group game in the CAF Confederation Cup against Black Bulls.
Wins for Enyimba in both matches could turn around their fortunes especially after having failed to win any of their last six games in all competitions.