#NIN Update: Telcos, minister meet, turnout rise by 40%.

It was learnt in Abuja on Monday that the ministerial task force on National Identity Number linkage with Subscriber Identification Module held a virtual meeting on Monday to assess the progress as the February 9 deadline draws near.

The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, confirmed that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, held the meeting with operators.

Pantami’s media aide, Uwa Suleiman, also said in a statement that chief executives of telecommunications companies participated in the meeting, as they revealed that compliance for NIN registration had increased by over 40 per cent.

The statement read in part, “CEO (Chief Executive Officer) 9Mobile, Alan Sinfield, in his commendation noted the very active leadership and support of Dr. Pantami, especially in his approval of network operators as enrolment agents for the NIN, which has increased the turnout for compliance by over 40 per cent.”

‘Yes I’m a Black Man and I Live Everyday Proud that I am’- Marcus Rashford Replies Racists Who Came after Him on Social Media.

Manchester United players have been victims of racial abuses in recent weeks. Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial were victims of racial abuses last week following Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United, which prompted Manchester United to call on social media companies to improve their monitoring of social media abuse.

In similar story, another Manchester United striker, Marcus Rashford, has been targeted by racists online, and his abuse came after he missed goalscoring opportunities in Manchester United’s game against Arsenal on Saturday night, January 30.

Reacting to the abuses, the 24-year-old England international took to Twitter on Saturday night to blast those who have targeted him, saying he will not dignify them by posting their racist comments online.


He wrote; “Humanity and social media at its worst. Yes I’m a black man and I live every day proud that I am. No one, or no one comment, is going to make me feel any different. So sorry if you were looking for a strong reaction, you’re just simply not going to get it here,” he wrote.

“I’m not sharing screenshots. It would be irresponsible to do so and as you can imagine there’s nothing original in them. I have beautiful children of all colours following me and they don’t need to read it. Beautiful colours that should only be celebrated.”
Manchester United coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also joined in the condemnation of racists online. During a press conference after the match, Ole said;

“It’s just incredible we have these scenes still, this abuse in 2021.

“We’ve been campaigning for a long time now with the Premier League and I think it’s working, but there are still some people that haven’t got it.
Manchester United coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also joined in the condemnation of racists online. During a press conference after the match, Ole said;

“It’s just incredible we have these scenes still, this abuse in 2021.

“We’ve been campaigning for a long time now with the Premier League and I think it’s working, but there are still some people that haven’t got it.

Cristiano Ronaldo Announces The Football Club In Which He Will Retire.

Cristiano Ronaldo Announces The Football Club In Which He Will Retire.

The Portuguese captain has played in four different leagues and clubs.

He began his professional football career at Sporting Lisbon before moving to Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus.

The 36-year-old Ronaldo sparked reactions when he announced the club that he will retire to.

“My arrest is massively, demonstratively illegal”- Navalny

Navalny appealing via video link, 28 Jan 21
image captionAlexei Navalny says the latest case against him was fabricated

Russian anti-Putin campaigner Alexei Navalny has denounced his detention as “demonstratively illegal” in an appeal hearing via video link.

A judge heard, and then rejected, his appeal against detention for 30 days. He was arrested on 17 January for not complying with a suspended sentence.

He told the judge “this is all massively, demonstratively illegal”.

Police have arrested some of his top aides, including lawyer Lyubov Sobol and his brother Oleg.

The latest arrests are connected with alleged violations by Navalny supporters, who rallied in their thousands across Russia last Saturday.

Mr Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, complained that he had not been allowed to speak to his lawyers in private since his arrest.

He has been detained since 17 January, when he flew back to Moscow from Berlin, where he had been recovering from a near-fatal nerve agent attack in Russia last August.

He accuses President Vladimir Putin of running an administration full of “thieves”.

He blamed his treatment on “those who want to shut me up – to scare me and everyone else.

Navalny Kremlin

“You want to show you’re the bosses of this country. But you are not. You have the power now, but that’s not eternal.”

He spent months recovering from the nerve agent attack which nearly killed him – for which he blamed agents of Mr Putin.

The Kremlin denies involvement. The opposition politician’s allegations have, however, been backed up by reports from investigative journalists.

‘Hard to see this dream come to an end’ – Ighalo bids farewell to Man Utd

Nigerian forward, Odion Ighalo has penned an emotional farewell post to Manchester United as the end of his loan contract approaches.

The 32-year-old joined the Red Devils on loan in January 2020 from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, and is set to leave at the end of this month.

Ighalo, in a social media post on Tuesday, expressed gladness over the fulfillment of his childhood dream to play for the Old Trafford club, adding that it was hard to see it come to an end.

“It’s so hard to see this dream come to an end,” Ighalo wrote on Instagram.

“But I give God the glory for helping me fulfill this lifelong dream of putting on a Manchester United shirt as a player and represent this great club, it was indeed an honor I will forever cherish and be grateful for.”

The former Nigeria international has made only four appearances for the Red Devils this season.

With the recent signing of Edinson Cavani from Paris St-Germain by manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer, Ighalo, who scored five times last season, had struggled to get playing time.

But Ighalo has thanked the manager for believing in him and also his teammates as well the club fans, as he hopes United will win the League and Cup double this season.

“To the manager I say thank you for trusting and believing in me when many did not, to my amazing team-mates I will miss you guys.

“And I pray we win the LEAGUE and FA Cup this year.

“I’m still and would remain a MANCHESTER UNITED FAN forever. Once a Red, always a Red. Thank you Manchester United and God bless,” he added.

Chelsea Set to Replace Lampard with Tuchel.

Chelsea will replace Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel, Raphael Honigstein can reveal.

Lampard will lose his job as Chelsea manager on Monday, and The Athletic understands the club legend will be replaced by the former Paris Saint-Germain boss.

Owner Roman Abramovich is thought to have been keen to bring Tuchel to Stamford Bridge.

Ronaldo scores 760th goal as Juventus beat Napoli to win Italian Super Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata were both on target for Juventus as they defeated Napoli 2-0 to win the Italian Super Cup on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo scored the opener – his 760th career goal – as Juve were heading to a 1-0 win before Morata sealed victory for the champions with a 95th minute effort.

With 760 goals, Ronaldo becomes the highest goal scorer in the history of football, with records showing he has surpassed Josef Bican’s record 759 goals.

The clash was a repeat of last season’s Coppa Italia final, which Napoli won on penalties.

Juve dominated the game, but Napoli had a chance to equalise late on when Lorenzo Insigne stepped up to take a penalty – only to roll it wide.

With the victory, Juve have now won the Super Cup for the ninth time, and it was Andre Pirlo’s first silverware as Juve boss.

Klopp calls for ‘calm’ amid poor run as Liverpool seek revival vs Burnley

Ahead of their Premier League clash against Burnley, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is hoping his team will return to winning ways.

The Reds have had a rough time lately, having failed to win a league game since their 7-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace in December.

They had since drawn 1-1 at home with West Bromwich Albion and 0-0 away at Newcastle, beaten 1-0 at Southampton and played out a stalemate with Manchester United.

The defending champions are currently on fourth spot in the table, having dropped enough points to see Manchester United, Manchester City and Leicester go ahead of them.

But Klopp, who led the team to their first league title in 30years last season, says the situation is not catastroph yet, and has called for calm.

“I understand the need to talk all the time about it but we cannot change it in a minute,” he said in a pre-match conference on Wednesday.

“Someone has to be calm in this situation – it is not a catastrophe. It is not perfect but I saw a lot of good signs again in the Manchester United game. Because we didn’t win, nobody was interested.

“We didn’t score. That’s it. That’s all. It’s just a job to do and that is what we are working on. We know we are not where we want to be.

“We just fight. People get unhappy with performances when results are not there.

“You can win the game with one lucky strike. We have to play our football to a high level. In the final third, we haven’t,” added Klopp.

Liverpool will seek to bounce back when they host Burnley on Thursday by 9:00p.m Nigeria time.

Barca to appeal against Messi’s two-game ban after Super Cup red card

Spanish giants, Barcelona have expressed their intention to appeal against the two-game ban handed to star forward, Lionel Messi.

Messi was shown a red card in the 120th minute of their Super Cup final against eventual winners Athletic Bilbao, and has been punished for it.

The Argentine was sent off after he appeared to swing at Bilbao’s Asier Villalibre. It was his first-ever red card in his Barcelona career.

Barcelona say they will appeal against the suspension, which was handed out by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Barcelona made thier intention to appeal the ban known on their official website on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, Messi could have gotten up to 12 weeks suspension had the Committee described the incident as ‘aggression’, instead it was reported as ‘violence during play’.

The referee’s report described Messi’s actions as “striking an opponent with his arm with excessive force while the ball was in play but not within a playable distance”.

The two-game suspension means Messi is set to miss Thursday’s Copa del Rey last-32 tie at Cornella and Sunday’s La Liga match away to Elche.

‘Put your names in history books’ – Kanu charges Eaglets ahead Cote d’Ivoire final

Former Nigeria international, Nwankwo Kanu has charged the Golden Eaglets to go for victory as they face Cote d’Ivoire in WAFU B final on Monday.

The Eaglets had been beaten 1-0 by the Baby Elephants in their opening game of the campaign and are meeting them again in the final.

The Fatai Amoo team, who did not win any of their group matches, picked up their first win of the tournament in the semifinal clash against Burkina Faso, with a 1-0 win.

The victory helped them qualify for the final, where they are set for revenge against the Elephants, who are yet to lose a game in the tournament.

Kanu, in a video chat with the players, urged them to do everything possible to write their names in the country’s football history book.

“I want to tell the whole team listening to me now, I wish you all the best,” Kanu said.

“This is a dream that all of you have to represent Nigeria and the dream is coming through.

“Go in there and work for each other, the team you will play against you can beat them and by God’s grace you will beat them.

“Believe that you are going to win and let your names be in the history book that in 2021 you people won it.

“Everybody in Nigeria are proud of you people and believe in you.”

The Eaglets will file up against Cote d’Ivoire today (Monday) in Lome, Togo.

Manchester United about to top league table for the first time in 16months.

2020/2021 Premier league season is indeed a tough one for all English clubs in the league. Few weeks after the beginning of the season, Liverpool have been considered favorite for the league this season but 1:0 loss to Southampton at St Mary’s stadium on Monday have given the Red Devils an open chance to top the premier league table for the first time in 16 months.

Manchester United have shown an incredible display this season having won 10 games, drawn 3 and lost 3 matches. The Reds who now sits second in the premier league table could move ahead of Liverpool to secure the first spot for the first time since the opening weekend of last season.

Having just 33 points same as Liverpool, United Will only top the league table if they secure a win against Burnley on Tuesday 12 January 2020.

Both teams (Manchester United and Liverpool) will then play against each other at Anfield on Saturday 17 January 2021 (A match which will decide who remains at the top of the table).

Manchester United Management Set To Complete £77million Deal of World Class Striker.

Manchester United are considering their options as the Red Devils are set to storm the transfer market to bring in world-class players to massively improve the overall quality of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad as they look to challenge for the Premier League title.


According to recent reports, Manchester United Board are ready to make a massive move to complete the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s superstar ,Erling Haaland, as the Norwegian international striker has been identified as a major attacking target.

Manchester United boss , Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to further improve his attacking ranks and has now decided to drop his interest in Jadon Sancho in order to complete the massive signing of Erling Haaland , who has been linked with a move to Manchester United for a long time.

Erling Haaland was linked with a move to the Old Trafford whilst he was still at RB Salzburg but the Striker opted for Dortmund. However, Manchester United are now set to move all out in order to complete the signing of the attacker this year.

20-years Old Erling Haaland is already regarded as one of the most feared strikers in Europe as his impressive and scintillating goalscoring form for Dortmund has continued to attract the interest of several top clubs around the continent.

However, Manchester United will have to pay a massive transfer fee in the region of £77million if they are to complete the signing of Erling Haaland this year. Although, Dortmund are unlikely to accept any transfer bid for Haaland in this winter transfer window, the Norwegian international striker will have a release clause in the region of £55million which is a lot cheaper if he stays at Borussia Dortmund till the summer of 2022.

Cristiano Ronaldo Picks Up 2020 Golden Foot Award After Beating Messi, Others .

Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has picked up the 2020 Golden Foot Award he won by beating archrival, Lionel Messi and nine other players, describing it as an honour. 

“I am honoured to win the @goldenfootofficial and to be immortalised on the Champion Promenade in Monaco, together with some of the greatest football legends of all time!” the Portugal international tweeted on Sunday after picking up the 18th Golden Foot Award in which he also beat Lewandowski, Neymar, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Sergio Aguero, Giorgio Chiellini and Arturo Vidal. “I am truly humbled and want to thank the fans all over the world for having voted for me.”

The 35-year-old former Manchester United striker was announced as the winner of the award introduced in 2003 after he got the highest votes from fans.
“The star of Juventus and the Portuguese national team received the highest number of votes among the 10 contenders selected this year,” the organisers had said in a statement on its website, confirming the former Real Madrid player as the winner of the prize.

Unlike previous years, the awards ceremony, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will take a different shape for the event which “usually takes place in the heart of the Principality of Monaco.”

The awards ceremony and gala will take place on December 28th, 2020

Ronaldo netted 37 goals and six assists in 46 matches during the 2019/2020 campaign, a fine form that saw him shortlisted for the 2020 FIFA Awards won by Bayern Munich’s Polish striker, Roberto Lewandowski.

Juventus president, Andrea Agnelli, equally scooped the first Golden Foot Prestige prize.

“He is thus one of the most successful presidents in the history of international football,” the organisers added.

Intimate Photos of Football Stars , Diego Costa and Gabriel Jesus in Bed with the Same Mystery Woman, Found in a Bible at a Charity Shop.

The Manchester City and Atletico Madrid strikers appeared topless in the bed with the same woman in the photos which were discovered last week.

According to the UK Sun, the Bible was in one of two bags handed in by a woman to a charity shop in Marylebone, Central London.

The report said the two bags were handed in in May, but the photos were not spotted until staff started sorting them last week.

A source said: “The pictures were instantly recognisable as Jesus and Costa – and both were with the same woman.

“They were both laughing and seemed incredibly relaxed in her company while larking around on pillows without their shirts on. The pictures appear to have been taken at different times.

“The charity shop normally gets jigsaws and second-hand clothes, so this was certainly a change from that.”

The source said: “A woman of Spanish or Latin appearance dropped off the bags.

“She said a friend left the UK and wanted to get rid of a few bits and pieces. The woman who brought the bags in has never been back so no one knew what to do with the pics.”

One photo showed a heavily tattooed Jesus pulling a face for the camera. 

Intimate photos of football stars Diego Costa and Gabriel Jesus in bed with the same mystery woman found in a bible at a charity shop

However, It’s unclear when the intimate photos were taken.

Diego Costa, 32, who played for Chelsea for three years is now at Atletico Madrid. He is married with two daughters

Gabriel Jesus, 23, who joined Manchester City in 2017 from Palmeiras, broke up with his ex-girlfriend, model Fernanda Queiroz earlier this year.

Lewandowski Beats Ronaldo, Messi To Win FIFA Best Player Award.

Bayern Munich forward, Robert Lewandowski, has won the award for The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year for 2020.

The Polish national team captain was named ahead of Barcelona and Juventus stars – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – to win the coveted prize.

He emerged the winner of the prize after he helped Bayern to win a treble – the Bundesliga league, Champions League, and the DFB-Pokal trophies.

Lewandowski, who finished as the top scorer in all three competitions, scored his 250th goal in the Bundesliga to help Bayern seal an important win over Wolfsburg in a match that ended 2-1 on Wednesday.

“He deserved it more than anyone else. He played the season of his life,” said Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after Lewandowski’s 55 goals in 2019/20 were a key factor in Bayern winning the treble.

Nicknamed ‘The Body’ and dubbed a ‘machine’ by his wife, the Poland forward has already scored 18 goals in 17 games this season.

The fact Lewandowski has had to wait until he is 32 to be crowned at FIFA’s ‘The Best’ awards is down to the way he proved himself in the knock-out stages of the Champions League last season.
Despite having been the Bundesliga’s top-scorer for five of the last seven seasons, Lewandowski was getting a reputation for struggling to find the net in key Champions League games.

Up until February, he had failed to score in his previous seven matches in the knock-out stages.

His four goals for ex-club Dortmund in the 2013 semi-final, first-leg, against Real Madrid seemed a faded memory.

All that changed in February’s last-16 win over Chelsea, when Lewandowski scored at Stamford Bridge, then set up Serge Gnarby’s two goals in a 3-0 away win.

Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga football match against Hertha Berlin on October 4, 2020, in Munich, southern Germany. CHRISTOF STACHE.

When the return leg was played nearly six months later, Lewandowski had a hand in all four goals — scoring twice and creating two more — in the 4-1 win at the Allianz Arena.

Lewandowski followed that up by scoring in the historic 8-2 quarter-final rout of Messi’s Barcelona and netted again in the 3-0 semi-final win over Lyon.

He finished as the Champions League’s top-scorer with 15 goals, two short of Ronaldo’s record for a single season and was dubbed ‘LewanGOALski’ by Bayern team-mate Thomas Mueller.

His three goals in this season’s group stages puts him level with Real Madrid legend Raul on 71 Champions League goals, short of Messi’s 118 and Ronaldo, who has scored 134 times.

In October, Lewandowski was named UEFA’s Player of the Year after Bayern added the UEFA Super Cup to their Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles.

He could complete the set in February if Bayern win the Club World Cup in Qatar.

Lewandowski was spotted as a raw 21-year-old playing Polish league club for Lech Poznan, where he scored 41 goals in 82 games and joined Dortmund in 2010.

He made his breakthrough under Jurgen Klopp, helping Dortmund win back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12.

He hit a hat-trick in the 5-2 drubbing of Bayern in the 2012 German Cup final, joining the Munich giants two years later having scored 103 goals in 187 games for Dortmund.

His goals on Wednesday mean Lewandowski has now scored 264 times in 306 games for the European champions.

Nicknamed ‘The Body’ by his team-mates, Lewandowski is known for his disciplined approach to nutrition and training, resulting in his honed physique.

“My husband is a machine,” admits wife Anna, a former Polish karate international who serves as his personal trainer.

Lewandowski is rarely injured and former Bayern captain Oliver Kahn sees the striker as “an absolute model of professionalism, a condition for staying at the highest level for a very long time.”

Rashford brace seals comeback win for Man United against Sheffield.

Manchester United came from behind to win 3-2 at winless Sheffield United in the English Premier League (EPL) on Thursday night, thanks to a brace from Marcus Rashford.

Rashford scored one goal in each half as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men maintained their perfect away record in the season.

United have also won their past 10 matches away from home, recording comeback wins in all games of the season.

The Old Trafford giants went behind five minutes into the match when Dean Henderson, the club’s second-choice goalkeeper who had a two-year loan stint at Sheffield United, was robbed of the ball and David McGoldrick tapped into an empty net.

Rashford equalised after 26 minutes when he took Victor Lindelof’s pass in his stride and hit a powerful shot that left Aaron Ramsdale, Sheffield United goalkeeper, sprawling in futility.

The 23-year-old made it 3-1 early in the second half after Anthony Martial had broken his 491-minute goal drought to put United in the lead on 33 minutes.

Although McGoldrick completed his brace with a fluke goal in the 87th minute, Henderson produced a world-class save in added time to preserve the points for Man United.

The Blades stay rooted to the bottom of the league without a win and just a point from 13 matches, while Man United climbed to sixth on the log with 23 points, five more points away from Liverpool in first position.

Former Liverpool manager dies aged 73

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Gerard Houllier celebrates Liverpool's cup treble in 2001 on an open-top bus parade with Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia
Gerard Houllier celebrates Liverpool’s cup treble in 2001 on an open-top bus parade with Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia

Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has died at the age of 73.

The Frenchman managed the Reds from 1998-2004 and led them to five major trophies, including the FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup treble in 2000-01.

Prior to Liverpool, Houllier managed Lens, Paris St-Germain and the French national team, and after leaving the Reds won two Ligue 1 titles at Lyon.

His last managerial job was at Aston Villa, but he left in 2011 after nine months, following heart problems.

In a statement, Liverpool said they were “deeply saddened” by Houllier’s death.

“We are mourning the passing of our treble-winning manager, Gerard Houllier,” the club said.

“The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club are with Gerard’s family and many friends.”

Aston Villa said: “All at Aston Villa are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Gerard Houllier, our manager during the 2010-11 season.

“Our thoughts are with Gerard’s loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”

Houllier made his managerial name with Lens and PSG in the 1980s before taking over the French national side in 1992.

However, after Les Bleus failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals – with Houllier blaming a mistake from winger David Ginola for their exit – he resigned from the role.

In 1998, he moved to England and took charge of Liverpool as joint manager alongside Roy Evans.

Evans resigned three months later and Houllier took sole charge, rebuilding the Reds and leading them to the unprecedented treble in the 2000-01 season.

In October 2001, he had open heart surgery after suffering from chest pains during a home match against Leeds, but returned to the dugout at Anfield and remained there for another three years before leaving in May 2004.

After leaving Liverpool, he led Lyon to two French titles before joining the French Football Federation in 2007, but he was enticed back into management by Villa in September 2010, signing a three-year deal.

But the following April Houllier was admitted to hospital with chest pains and Gary McAllister stepped in to help steer Villa away from relegation trouble.

He stepped down from the role at the end of the 2010-11 season with concerns that a return to the dugout could cause further health issues.

He has since held the head of football role at Red Bull, and in November became technical director of women’s football clubs Lyon and OL Reign.

Houllier’s record at Liverpool (games as sole manager only)
Matches307
Wins160
Draws73
Losses74
Goals scored516
Goals conceded298

#naijapremiumgist

#UCL Draw: Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid in last-16 of Champions League

Chelsea will face Atletico Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Frank Lampard’s side will face Diego Simeone’s side over two legs in February and March after finishing top of Group E.

The Blues managed to finish top ahead of Sevilla, Krasnodar and Rennes as they went unbeaten in the group stages.

The first legs will take place on 16/17 and 23/24 February, with the second legs on 9/10 and 16/17 March. 

———-

Full list of confirmed ties:

Borussia Monchengladbach vs Manchester City

Lazio vs Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea

RB Leipzig vs Liverpool

FC Porto vs Juventus

PSG vs Barcelona

Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund

Atalanta vs Real Madrid

‘The old Bale may never come back’ – Tottenham winger ‘nowhere near’ the player he was, says Bent

A former Spurs star has suggested his old club may have to consider cutting the Welshman’s loan from Real Madrid short

Gareth Bale is “nowhere near” the player he once was, according to Darren Bent, who is sceptical over whether the Tottenham winger will ever be able to rediscover his best form.

Bale has struggled to make an impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since returning to north London from Real Madrid in September.

The 31-year-old agreed to re-join on a season-long loan after falling out of favour at Santiago Bernabeu, but has so far only managed to contribute one goal in seven appearances across all competitions.

The Welshman was left on the bench as Jose Mourinho’s side secured an impressive 2-0 home win over Manchester City on November 21, and was an unused substitute once again during a 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.

Most of Bale’s minutes have come in the Europa League, with his next outing likely to come when Spurs take in a trip to LASK on Thursday, and Bent thinks a man who scored 56 goals in 203 games during his first spell at the club is running out of time to prove his worth.

“It’s a gradual process but at the same time it’s a year loan,” the former Tottenham striker told talkSPORT. “For me, the question you’ve got to ask is how long is Mourinho prepared to give him before he goes ‘this is not working’.

“All the talk has been about [Heung-min] Son and [Harry] Kane being superb, but when they get Bale back, when Bale gets back to himself, Bale this and Bale that. But right now he’s nowhere near the Bale we can remember.

“He’s not played consistently for about three years and he’s had big injuries as well, so that Bale may never come back.”

Bent went onto suggest that Spurs may have to consider cutting Bale’s loan short if his performances do not improve, with it his belief that keeping hold of him could end up having a detrimental impact on the squad.

“Do you think there’s a point in the season where he could become a distraction? They have to make a decision,” he added. “It’s a year loan and if it continues like this what do Spurs do? Send him back to Madrid or keep him?

“So for me how long are they going to give him and how long are the fans going to give him before they go ‘listen, we can’t keep waiting on him to come back’… [Steven] Bergwijn needs to be playing and Lucas Moura need to be playing.

“It’s kind of a strange one, but at the minute the signs don’t look great.”

Barcelona full-back Sergi Roberto tests positive for coronavirus

The Spain international will be forced to spend the next 10 days in quarantine after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Barcelona full-back Sergi Roberto has tested positive for coronavirus, the club have confirmed on Wednesday.

Roberto had been enjoying a prominent role in Ronald Koeman’s squad before being forced off the pitch with a thigh injury during Barca’s 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on November 21.

The 28-year-old is not expected to return to action until the new year, but has been dealt a setback in his recovery after contracting Covid-19.

Barca revealed that Roberto posted a positive test following their latest round of medical checks, with the defender now set to remain in quarantine for the next 10 days.

“After the PCR tests carried out this Tuesday, the first-team player Sergi Roberto has tested positive for Covid-19,” a statement on the club’s official website reads.

“The footballer is in good health and is isolated at home as he continues his recovery from the injury that he suffered on November 21.

“The club has informed the relevant sports and health authorities. In addition, all the people who had contact with the player have been traced to carry out the corresponding PCR tests.

“It should be remembered that Roberto suffered a tear in the rectus femoris in his right thigh at the end of the Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona game, an injury for which he will be away from the pitch for approximately two months.”

Roberto missed Barca’s 4-0 victory away at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League last Tuesday, before also sitting out their home win over Osasuna by the same scoreline five days later.

The Spain international will be unavailable when Koeman takes his side to Hungary to take on Ferencvaros in midweek, and looks set to miss the entire festive period as he bids to rid himself of coronavirus before getting back to his rehabilitation programme at Camp Nou.

Barca can secure top spot in Group G if they beat Ferencvaros, having already booked their place in the round of 16, before their focus shifts back to La Liga.

The Blaugrana are due to take in a trip to Cadiz this weekend, which they must win to stay in touch with early pacesetters Real Sociedad and Atletico.