After failing to secure a
move to Europe, the
midfielder returned to
Abuja on Monday. Goal
reveals what went down
in France and why the
player’s progress has now
been stalled
GOAL EXCLUSIVE
Goal can authoritatively
reveal that it was sheer
greed on the part of
Nigerian club officials that
cost Super Eagles
midfielder Sunday Mba the
opportunity of kick-
starting his professional
football career in France
with modest French Ligue
2 club CA Bastia in a two-
year-deal said to be worth
around €1 million.
The fans of Bastia had
thronged out to welcome
the Africa Cup of Nations
hero to their city when he
arrived last week. They
screamed his name every
time he was seen through
the window of his hotel
room: “We love Sunday
Mba” and “Welcome to
Bastia Sunday Mba, we
love you,” they shouted.
He had begun to feel at
home.
But the hope of having the
25-year-old play for their
darling club ebbed near
European transfer
deadline day when the
midfielder left France
when he realised that
forces beyond him would
not allow him make
progress.
Mba jetted back to the
country on Monday and
moved to the
Metropolitan Hotel Camp
of the Super Eagles in
Calabar on Tuesday after
his Bastia deal was thrown
to the trash can by the
Warri Wolves officials and
other two prominent
partners involved in the
deal.
Goal discovered from a
prominent contact who
was privy to the contract
and it was discovered that
the sharing of the
€150,000 involved as
transfer fee was the major
cause of the deal not
materializing in the first
place.
Super Eagles coach
Stephen Keshi allegedly
demanded for €50,000
from the deal which Warri
Wolves boss Amaju
Pinnick perceived was too
much and believed that
the remaining €100,000
won’t be enough for him
and Emmanuel Ibru, who
was also involved in the
sale of the player, to share.
Ibru was involved in the
controversial transfer of
late Super Eagles defender
Olubayo Adefemi before
he joined Skoda Xanthi.
They all disagreed on Mba
putting pen to paper for
Bastia unless the transfer
fee was jacked up to at
least €600,000 so that
they could have enough to
go share.
The player, though not
happy, couldn’t help the
situation. According to a
close friend of his, Mba
sobbed uncontrollably in
his hotel in France because
he had already started
feeling at home in Bastia
as a result of love and
affection shown to him by
Bastia fans.
Goal can also
authoritatively reveal the
terms of agreement Mba
could have signed with
Bastia as follows:
If Bastia gains promotion
to Ligue 1, they have the
right to buy Sunday Mba
at a preferential price of
€800,000 minus the
amount they have already
paid while a bonus of
€100,000 will be given to
Warri Wolves, Mba’s club.
Also a partnership deal of
2 years will be agreed
between the two clubs
(Bastia and Warri Wolves)
to organize friendly games
and trials at Bastia for the
best players of Warri
Wolves. This agreement
will work at the moment
they maintain their place
in the league or get
promoted and the
contract can be renewed
every 2 years.
The player also cannot be
sold for less than
€800,000. In the case
where he is sold on to
another club, Warri
Wolves would be given 50
per cent of the fees.
In case the player is
injured for more than 4
months, Bastia have the
right to release him and
have to give him back to
Warri Wolves without
asking for their money
back and don't have to
pay the rest of the money
due.
In case CA Bastia get
relegated, Sunday Mba will
go back to Warri Wolves
as being specified in the
contract that Mba couldn’t
sign.
With the failure of Mba to
move to Europe this
summer, it is yet to be
seen how this would
affect the career of the
player who helped Nigeria
to victory at the 2013
Africa Cup of Nations.
www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4078/exclusives/2013/09/03/4235297/revealed-how-sharing-formula-stalled-sunday-mbas-bastia-deal?ICID=OP