Portuguese side FC Esmoriz has completed the signing of five promising players from Tonic Football Club, a fast-rising grassroots team based in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The move marks a major breakthrough for Nigerian non-league football and reflects the growing pipeline of talent being developed at the local level. Tonic FC, which is barely six months old, has quickly become a hub for identifying and grooming young players for international careers with FC Esmoriz acting as its parent club.
Among the five players signed is Ayuba Oyetola, a 6-foot-9 goalkeeper whose imposing frame and reflexes have already drawn attention from scouts across West Africa. All five players are expected to travel to Portugal in the coming weeks to officially begin their new journey with the European side.
In an official comment, Prince Dapo Ajibade, General Overseer of Tonic FC, hailed the move as the beginning of greater things for the club and Nigerian grassroots football at large.
“Tonic FC is a veritable football factory based in the lovely Ikorodu community of Lagos State. This is just a tip of the iceberg, because we’ve many other young and talented footballers, who would soon join the professional ranks in a not too distant future,” Ajibade said.
Tonic FC recently competed in the Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO) Championship and narrowly missed out on promotion. Despite being a relatively new name in Nigerian football, the club’s structured development programme and its direct link with FC Esmoriz have already made it an attractive stop for young, ambitious footballers across Lagos.
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The club’s leadership says more players will soon follow in the footsteps of the five, with plans already in motion to establish regular talent exchange programmes between Lagos and Portugal.
This development signals a fresh chapter in Nigeria–Portugal football relations, and more importantly, opens up new doors for Nigerian talents operating outside the traditional academy or NPFL system.