Balogun rejoices as Nigeria striker returns to Germany

Out-of-favour Super Eagles  forward Anthony Ujah says he is “unbelievably  happy” to   return to his former German Bundesliga club Mainz 05 from Chinese side Liaoning.

And Nigeria  defender Leon Balogun  is over the moon about his countryman’s return to the club he joined from Norwegian outfit  Lillestrom  in 2011 before joining  Cologne, where he played on loan  for a season before making sealing a permanent deal with the Billy Goats in 2013.



Ujah moved to Werder Bremen in 2015 and scored  14 goals in 37 games for the River Islanders before journeying to the mega-rich Chinese Super League to seal a reported €13m  deal with Liaoning in July 2016.

 The player  scored 10 goals in 39 appearances for  Liaoning last season.

Mainz confirmed on their official website that former Warri Wolves attacker Ujah on Wednesday   signed a contract with them that would expire  in  the summer of 2021 for an undisclosed fee.

German-born Balogun, who is a regular Mainz starter,  expressed his delight at the arrival of Ujah at Opel Arena.

“Oh boi!!! Welcome back in Mainz & to the #Bundesliga, looking forward to playing  with you again brother @ujah21 thanks for the early Christmas present @1FSVMainz05,”  the 29-year-old, who helped Nigeria qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup,  wrote on  his Twitter account on Thursday.

Mainz  Sporting director Rouven Schroder expressed his happiness with Ujah’s return to the club.

 “Anthony   is an athletic, determined and strong attacker who has proved his qualities at the Bundesliga level,”  Schroder he told the club’s website.

“He adds real value to our squad, a great character and due to his short past here. We made sure that he commits to a long-term future at Mainz.”

Ujah  said, “I’m unbelievably happy to return to Mainz, because I’ve only got good memories of my time here. I’m also happy to return to the Bundesliga. I want to help the team achieve its goals from the New Year.”