Ahmed Musa Premier League Return Dream in Ruins

Ahmed Musa Premier League Return  Dream in Ruins

After leaving Saudi Arabian club- Al Nassr on mutual agreement, several European clubs have shown interest in signing Ahmed Musa but a return to Premier League football was non-negotiable as far as the Super Eagles captain was concerned. Indeed, everything was pointing to the direction of West Bromwich Albion as he even had medicals and trained with them but for a last minute U-turn by the club which has shattered the dream of the former Leicester City forward to return to the Premier League

West Bromwich Albion have decided not to offer a contract to Ahmed Musa despite the Nigerian international spending time with the club on trial.
The 28-year-old began training with the Baggies last week with the hope of proving his fitness and earning a deal until the end of the campaign.

The striker has trained with West Brom and was said to have impressed manager Sam Allardyce. The Nigerian international forward is understood to have impressed Allardyce and his coaching staff, who were hoping he would sign a contract until the end of the season and bolster their attacking options.

A winger who is also able to play up front, Musa is currently a free agent meaning he is able to join a club outside the transfer window.
The Baggies are however running low on funds after a busy January transfer window.
Meanwhile, Musa still has a slim chance making his dream return to the Premier League come to fruition, with Burnley, Southampton and Brighton ready to swoop for the forward.

Back in 2016 the forward became Leicester’s record signing when the Foxes paid £16.6 million to sign him from CSKA Moscow.
But he struggled to make an impact in England and was loaned back to CSKA before going on to join Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr in a permanent deal.

Musa has been a free agent since leaving Pro League side in October and according to reports, is eager to prove himself in the Premier League.
Speaking earlier this week, Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, said he was hopeful his captain would complete a move to The Hawthorns.

However, Albion have decided against offering Musa a deal with the club feeling they already had stronger players in his preferred position out wide.
The first Chinese owners may have stretched their budget to the limit in the January window and are now struggling to release more funds to sign Musa. Albion brought in Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal, Okay Yukuslu from Celta Vigo, Mbaye Diagne from Galatasaray plus Robert Snodgrass and Andy Lonergan last month.

One possible lifeline could come if West Brom winger Kamil Grosicki completes a move back to Poland with Legia Warsaw.
Reports have suggested Legia Warsaw, who have until the end of this month to sign players are interested in taking the winger back to Poland.

Speaking last month, Allardyce confirmed he was willing to listen to offers for Grosicki as Albion look to lower their wage bill.
Nottingham Forest, who came close to signing Grosicki in the summer, renewed their interest last month but the Poland international wasn’t keen on a move to the City Ground.

It is believed Grosicki is hoping to secure a move to a European side this month in a bid to get more playing time ahead of the European Championships.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian captain had earlier been linked with a move to Championship club Sheffield Wednesday, which Musa played down, insisting he wants a return to top-flight football instead.
“I don’t know where the story of a potential move to Sheffield is coming from because I don’t pay attention to rumours and gossip,” Musa told BBC Sport Africa.

“With due respect to the club, I left Saudi Arabia to continue my career at the top level in Europe and that’s the ambition.”
Musa scored 11 goals and provided 14 assists in 57 matches, helping Al Nassr, whom he joined from Leicester City in summer 2018, to the Saudi Pro League and Super Cup titles.

He achieved success in Russia with CSKA Moscow where he won three league titles and added three domestic cup titles, before switching to Leicester City for a club-record fee in July 2016.

The pacey forward failed to establish himself with the Foxes scoring five goals in 33 matches, with the highlight coming on loan at CSKA where he scored six times in 10 appearances at the Russian club – three times more than he managed in his 21 Premier League appearances, before his move to Asia.

“For some reasons things didn’t actually work at Leicester, but you can’t focus too much on the past,” he said. “I’d rather try to write a better story if another opportunity to play in the Premier League presents itself.”
The 28-year-old last played for Nigeria in November, captaining them in qualification games for the African Cup of Nations against Sierra Leone twice.

In this calendar season, Musa hasn’t exactly caught the eye – only scoring twice in his 825 minutes of action for club and country.
He helped the Super Eagles win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and played for them in the past two World Cups
Musa scored twice for Nigeria at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup tournaments to become the country’s top World Cup goalscorer.

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