Who Runs the Engine Room Now?

The countdown to the 2026/27 NPFL season is getting shorter, and clubs across the country are now in the final phase of preparations. New signings are being integrated, fitness levels are being pushed closer to match sharpness and coaches are using these last few days to pass on the technical details they hope will define their teams when the real competition begins.

Tune-up games are useful for that process. Results can boost confidence and excite supporters, but preseason victories are never the most important thing. What matters is whether a team is becoming technically coherent, physically prepared and mentally strong enough to survive the demands of a long league season.

Enyimba continued that preparation yesterday with a friendly against Heartland FC in Owerri. Details of the match remain sketchy, which has become something of a theme around the club, but the information that eventually escaped the walls points to a comfortable 3-1 victory for the People’s Elephant.

Youngster Samuel Okechukwu was among the goals as Enyimba raced into a 3-0 lead before Heartland pulled one back from the penalty spot late in the game. Enyimba had also been reduced to ten men before the consolation arrived, so there are at least a few positives to take from the outing even if the full picture remains hidden.

Tracking activities around Enyimba this preseason has sometimes felt like amateur detective work. The wall around the team has been impressive, and information about recruitment, retained players and even friendly matches has been released reluctantly, if at all. Still, one consolation is that the team has clearly not been sitting on its hands.

Coach Emmanuel Deutsch is now fully in charge of the technical decisions and, unlike last season when he arrived in the middle of a rescue mission, he has had a complete preseason to work with the squad. That gives him the time and environment to implement his ideas, improve fitness and shape the team according to the football he wants to play.

The expectations are also completely different this time.

Last season, survival was eventually the objective. This season, nobody associated with Enyimba should be approaching the campaign with the mentality of merely staying in the division. The target has to be considerably higher, and the work being done now must reflect that.

My attempts to uncover exactly who is part of this new-look squad have largely met a brick wall. Apart from Okechukwu getting a mention for his goal and defender Wisdom Obichere earning some recognition for a timely clearance, there was not much else to work with.

In fact, over the past few weeks, it has been considerably easier to identify Enyimba players after they have joined another club than to know who is actually staying in Aba or arriving to strengthen the team.

Whatever purpose this carefully woven web of secrecy was meant to serve, its expiry date is approaching quickly. By August 30, there will be nowhere left to hide names because a team sheet eventually has to be produced.

The most prominent departures have understandably been former captain Kalu Nweke and Ufere Chinedu because of their influence and status within the squad. But other exits have also become clearer over the past week.

Left-back Nwokeji Godstime, who shared duties on that flank with Solomon Ogberahwe during much of the first half of last season, will now wear the colours of Bendel Insurance after completing a move to the Benin Arsenal.

Samuel Agu has also been unveiled by Kano Pillars. Agu joined Enyimba from Heartland at the start of last season and demonstrated his versatility by playing across the defence whenever required. He filled in at right-back, left-back and centre-back, made 16 starts and scored twice, including that spectacular late winner against Bayelsa United in Aba.

Then there is Salman Abubakar.

His departure to Rivers United is perhaps the one that should generate even more discussion than it has received. After only one friendly match for his new club, Rivers United supporters were already talking about the steel he had added to their midfield.

Salman arrived in Aba from El-Kanemi Warriors at the beginning of last season and quickly established himself as one of the most dependable players in the squad. His holding role gave Nweke and Ufere greater freedom to operate higher up the pitch, influence matches and contribute goals.

He made 32 starts during the campaign, the second-highest number in the squad behind Afolayan’s 34. That level of consistency becomes even more notable when you remember the instability surrounding the team, with five different coaches or interim arrangements appearing in the dugout over the course of the season.

You do not start 32 matches under that level of managerial change simply by accident.

And that brings us to the real concern.

In one transfer window, Enyimba have lost the three midfielders who carried much of the workload last season: Nweke, Ufere and Salman.

That trio may never rank alongside the legendary midfield combinations that have passed through Aba. They did not win trophies together, and last season certainly will not be remembered fondly. But context matters.

The standards around Enyimba have clearly fallen in recent years, and perhaps the team would have struggled even more without them. More importantly, if these players were as ordinary as some may suggest, clubs preparing for continental football would not be lining up to take them.

Rivers United saw value in Salman. Shooting Stars saw value in Nweke. Others have moved on to clubs who clearly believe they can contribute.

That should tell us something.

Midfield is where games are very often won and lost. There is a reason the middle of the pitch is described as a battlefield. With the right combination, a team can control possession, dictate tempo, protect the defence and supply the attacking players with enough quality to hurt opponents.

That is why the exits of Nweke, Ufere and Salman should concern every Enyimba supporter.

Perhaps the club has signed excellent replacements. Perhaps there is another midfield combination quietly being developed behind those closed doors. Perhaps the technical team believes the new players will bring more energy, creativity, strength and balance than what we had last season.

The problem is that we simply do not know.

Who provides the leadership Nweke brought? Who carries the creative responsibility? Who sits in front of the defence and provides the stability Salman offered? Where will the goals come from in midfield? Who controls matches when Enyimba are under pressure away from home?

Those answers may currently be hidden from us, but they will not remain hidden for much longer.

Once the league starts, there will be no secrecy strong enough to protect a weak midfield. The team sheet will tell us who has been brought in, and the performances will tell us whether the recruitment was good enough.

By then, explanations will matter far less.

Performance and results will become the only acceptable answers.

Enyimba Enyi!