Football
Colin Udoh, Special to ESPN 6y

Saudi Arabia move might boost Ahmed Musa's Super Eagles hopes - Rohr

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr believes that Ahmed Musa's move to Al-Nassr FC this week could boost his Super Eagles contribution.

The 25-year-old ended his underwhelming two-year stay with Leicester City on Friday, when he signed deal with the Saudi Arabian side.

Despite moving away from European football, and one of the world's major leagues, Super Eagles boss Rohr is confident that Musa's move could help Nigeria.

"I am very happy for Musa," Rohr told KweséESPN. "It's good for him to go to a club where he is playing than to a club where he is not playing.

"The assistant coach at Leicester [Jacky Bonnevay] is someone I know, and he is sad that Musa has to go," the German coach continued. "He saw him training and he was very happy."

"I do not say that [Musa's international career will be jeopardised by his move to Saudi Arabia]," Rohr concluded.

"He is an important player for us, and he is going to a club where he plays, that's important.

"It's better for us that he plays all the time than he stays on the bench."

Musa managed just 21 Premier League appearances - of which seven were starts - after moving to Leicester from CSKA Moscow in 2016.

He scored twice after struggling to force his way into either Claudio Ranieri or Craig Shakespeare's plans.

He didn't feature for the Foxes last term after being deemed surplus to requirements by Claude Puel, and was sent back on loan to CSKA.

His fortunes improved back in Russia, and he netted six times in 10 Russian Premier League outings in order to secure a spot in Nigeria's World Cup squad.

Memorably, the fleet-footed forward netted twice after the Super Eagles downed Iceland 2-0 in their second group game.

Before joining CSKA in 2012, Musa was the NPFL's then-highest scorer after netting 18 times with Kano Pillars in the 2009-19 season when just 17.

He subsequently secured a move to VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands.

^ Back to Top ^