Two Nigerian soccer players have accused a Portuguese club of gross mistreatment after they allegedly refused a pay cut at the start of the 2016-2017 season. In a flurry of tweets on Thursday, BBC sports writer Oluwashina Okeliji outlined the accusations of strikers Uche Nwofor and Michael Uchebo, who alleged that top-tier team Boavista treated them “like a slave” at the end of their tenures. The players, both of whom played elsewhere in Europe, as well as on Nigeria’s 2014 World Cup team, said Boavista executives have refused to pay them their salaries. The players also say club executives isolated them from the rest of the team, including barring them from training and other events. “(It’s) a crazy situation,” Nwofor, 25, told Okeleji. “We had to start keeping evidence. You’re working, they don’t pay you and use security to harass you. This is slavery.” Nwofor and Uchebo reportedly recorded video of their interactions with Boavista security personnel, which Okeleji posted to Twitter on Thursday.

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Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi is yet to make an appearance under Antonio Conte. And the Nigeria international will reportedly be offered the chance to test himself in France or China if he does so. Mikel arrived at Stamford Bridge ten years ago with a reputation as one of world football’s most exciting teen talents. And despite the fact he has failed to live up to that billing, he has been able to forge a career as a reliable defensive midfielder. Mikel has played a role in securing two Premier League titles, one Champions League, one Europa League and seven more trophies during his time at Chelsea.

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Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has been named Premier League Manager of the Month for October. The Italian led his side to victory in all four matches they played in the month, as they scored 11 goals and conceded none. Chelsea’s 4-0 drubbing of Manchester United – led by former Blues boss Jose Mourinho – was the undoubted highlight.

CSKA Moscow midfielder Roman Eremenko has been banned from football for two years after testing positive for cocaine. The 29-year-old Finland international was tested after CSKA’s 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on 14 September. He scored the Russian club’s equaliser. His ban runs until 6 October 2018. A UEFA statement said: “The analysis of the A sample revealed the presence of cocaine and its metabolites.”

Gareth Southgate will meet Football Association officials on Monday for what will effectively be his interview to become the next England manager. Southgate, who has just finished a four-game spell as interim manager after the departure of Sam Allardyce, will hold talks and present his case to FA chairman Gregg Clarke, Chief Executive Martin Glenn, Technical Director Dan Ashworth and two other independent members of a panel, Howard Wilkinson and Graeme Le Saux. The meeting is expected to take place at St. George’s Park and the final decision will be taken by Clarke, Glenn and Ashworth, with Wilkinson and Le Saux invited to give their input into the process. The FA stress there is no time frame on the appointment and at this stage no other interviews have been lined up.

The Premier League has agreed its biggest-ever overseas broadcast sale in its new TV rights deal in China. The three-year contract with Chinese video streaming service PPTV could be worth up to $700m (£560m). If the reported value is confirmed, it would be worth ten times more than the league’s current China TV deal.

Congo Brazzaville have sacked coach Pierre Lechantre with 17 months left on his contract with the Red Devils. The Congo Football Federation (Fecofoot) confirmed his sacking on Tuesday, following the team’s poor recent results, the latest being a 1-0 defeat by Uganda in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on 12 November. The Frenchman, who replaced his compatriot Claude LeRoy in January, oversaw the Red Devils’ shock failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. “After the meeting on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 11:00 am, Fecofoot and Pierre Lechantre, coach of the national team, agreed an amicable breakup of the contract that binds both parties,” Fecofoot said in a statement. The 66-year-old has coached Cameroon and Mali in the past, helping the former to a third African Cup of Nations title in 2000.

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Steven Gerrard has left LA Galaxy at the end of his contract, the Major League Soccer side have announced. The former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said he will now be “spending time with my family as I consider the next stage of my career”. The 36-year-old scored five goals and 14 assists in 34 appearances during his 18 months with LA Galaxy but leaves them after they were knocked out of the play-offs. Gerrard said: “When I left Liverpool, I came to Los Angeles with the goal of helping the Galaxy lift another MLS Cup. “I am of course disappointed to have not achieved that objective, but I can look back at my time at the club with pride at what we accomplished, including two straight play-off appearances and countless memorable moments on the pitch. “As someone who spent the whole of their career in Liverpool, it has been an incredible experience to come to Los Angeles and play for the LA Galaxy. “I would like to thank my team-mates, the coaching staff, all of the support staff and most importantly the fans for their fantastic support during my time at Galaxy. “I am excited to see this league and this great club continue to grow.”

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri, now on loan at Sevilla, has been talking to French show L’Equipe du Sour about the changes Pep Guardiola has made at City. “When I came back for pre-season, he told me my weight should be 76 kilos. The last time I was that weight was when I was at Marseille. “He wants his players to be slim and fit. He banned a lot of things in the kitchen but the biggest anecdote is that he says before a day off, those who want to have (sexual) relations, it’s before midnight. And that’s with a day off the next day. “It’s because he wants you to have a good night’s sleep. He said he told that to Lionel Messi, who since then does not get muscle injuries. And with Robert Lewandowski, who he dropped to the bench to make him understand certain things.”

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil is close to agreeing a new £200,000-a-week deal to stay at the Gunners. Ozil, 28, has 18 months remaining on his current £140,000-a-week deal but Arsenal are confident the German will sign the new deal to make him the club’s highest-paid player. The midfielder joined Arsenal from Real Madrid three years ago and the Mirror say he recently bought a new £10m house in London.

Gus Poyet – former Tottenham, Chelsea and Uruguay midfielder – sacked as Real Betis coach on Saturday – turns 49.

Kevin Wimmer – Tottenham and Austria defender celebrates his 24th birthday.

San Marino officials want an apology from Germany forward Thomas Muller and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after comments made about the team. Muller said that playing a “team of amateurs” in the World Cup qualifier put German players at risk of injury, and Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said “San Marino has nothing to do with professional football”. San Marino officials have demanded an apology from Germany forward Thomas Muller, who made comments about the team following an 8-0 win on Friday. San Marino Olympic Committee spokesman Alan Gasperoni offered 10 reasons for the game to be played and told Muller that Germany “does not own the game”. Number 10 is interesting (via online translation)… “Even if you (Germany) wear the most beautiful model of uniforms of adidas underneath you’re always the ones that put white socks under the sandals.”

Germany midfielder Serge Gnabry feared a radio station were playing a joke on him when boss Joachim Low called to tell him he was in the squad. The 21-year-old, who left Arsenal for Werder Bremen this summer, became the first player to score a hat-trick on his Germany debut in 40 years – in an 8-0 win away to San Marino. “The coach called me and I had to consider for a while whether it was real or not,” he told RND radio. “There have been a lot of these fake calls on the radio and I just didn’t want to be the next victim.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andre Ayew, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane and Yaya Toure make up the five-man shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award. The five candidates were revealed during a special live launch broadcast on Saturday. The winner will be decided by fans from across the world, who have until 7pm on 28 November to vote for their choice. Vote here.

Thomas Vermaelen (Football) – Barcelona and Belgium defender, formerly of Arsenal, turns 31.

Jake Livermore (Football) – Hull and England midfielder, is 27.

Olivier Giroud says he has “no doubts over my Arsenal future”. The 30-year-old France player has missed a chunk of this season with a toe injury, with Alexis Sanchez impressing as a central striker. “At this time, the coach has opted for the solution of Sanchez leading the attack, partly because of my injury,” Giroud told French TV show Telefoot. “So I now hope to get more game time of course. The coach makes his own choices but I am counting on myself to come back strong and I will work hard to do so. “As with each year, there is competition for places at the big clubs. There are a lot of attackers with different styles of play. We have different profiles and can be used according to the team we are up against, but we can also be played together.”

Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko was sent off in a heated World Cup qualifying draw in Greece for pulling down the shorts of Kyriakos Papadopoulos. The Roma striker, 30, was on the floor in the 79th minute and with his side 1-0 up, held on to the ball, prompting Papadopoulos to wrestle it from him. Dzeko pulled the RB Leipzig defender’s shorts, earning a second booking. Papadopoulos got a straight red for pushing in the melee that followed, but his side levelled in the 95th minute.

When Hoffenheim unveiled Julian Nagelsmann as the Bundesliga’s youngest full-time boss in February, it was dismissed by local media as a “public relations stunt” and “a crackpot idea”. Nagelsmann was just 28 and had never coached at senior level, while Hoffenheim, a village with a population of just 3,300 in southern Germany, were deep in relegation trouble, seven points from safety and running out of games. What has followed in the past nine months is truly remarkable. Nagelsmann, now 29, kept them up and now Hoffenheim are one of only five teams in Europe’s five major leagues to remain unbeaten this season.

Newcastle United are eyeing a move for Genk’s £8million-rated defender Wilfred Ndidi. The 19-year-old is a Nigeria international and has attracted the attention of some big European clubs with a string of composed performances for the Jupiler League club – who turned down a £5million approach from Hamburg in the summer. But according to sources in Belgium, United have run the rule over him several times this season – there is a strong indication that Genk may sell one of their prize assets in January. United would have to go considerably above the £5million that the Bundesliga club had turned down, but there WILL be money to spend in January with Newcastle also set to off-load Cheick Tiote.

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Chelsea’s Victor Moses scored twice as Nigeria kept up their winning start to the group phase of 2018 World Cup qualifying with a 3-1 victory over Algeria at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria to make it two wins out of two in Group B. The Super Eagles took the lead through Moses in the 25th minute, and they made it 2-0 just before half-time when another Chelsea player, John Mikel Obi, beat Algeria’s off-side trap to slot home as Algeria’s defenders stood and watched. Algeria did have chances to get back into the game – the best of them coming from Nabil Bentaleb who missed from close range. Bentaleb made amends mid-way through the second half with a powerful shot from 25 yards to make it 2-1. That goal made it a frenetic end to the match, with Nigeria making sure of the three points with a third goal – a second from Moses – in stoppage time to win 3-1. Nigeria have a comfortable cushion at the top of Group B, after Cameroon were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Zambia in Limbe.