Fresh Sheffield Wednesday face admits level is higher than he is used to - backs himself to come good

The Dutch youngster arrived in a whirlwind transfer from fashionable French outfit Monaco in early-August, one twelfth of a manic summer transfer spree that saw figures arrive from all over the world.

At 22 he’s a player brought in with rare attributes and sell-on potential and despite stints out of the squad and mixed fortunes on the field to date, he has shown glimpses of the reason his previous club shelled out somewhere in the region of €2.5m to take him from NEC Nijmegen as a teenager in 2020.

Up-close, Musaba holds a more imposing frame than he might seem to on the field and speaks warmly, a smile never far from the corner of his mouth. It’s fair to say he backs himself and in a changing room of new faces yet to stamp their authority on the Championship, is ready to admit the step-up in level is one he is getting used to.

His is an honest and open approach.

“It’s tough, very tough,” he told The Star. “The level is high and it doesn’t matter which club you are playing, it can be from the bottom or up at the top, the teams are tough and it’s a tough competition.

“The football is fast, really fast. You have to be really fit and have a connection with the game or you won’t handle it.

“It’s a very technical league, you do have time to do some stuff, but everything goes quickly around you.”

If you’d told Musaba on the day of his signing that he would be Wednesday’s top scorer at this stage of the campaign, you’d imagine he’d assume he was on more than two goals.

The winless Owls’ struggles are no secret but with a fresh start ahead after the sacking of Xisco, it is hoped their fortunes will change and that the likes of Musaba can set about their rise from the bottom of the division.

Despite his age, Musaba has played in the Dutch second tier, the Belgian Pro League, the Eredivisie and the French second tier in his young career. And while the step-up in style and pace of English football is one he has acknowledges, it’s one that hasn’t come as too much of a surprise.

“I have always watched the Premier League, but also the Championship,” he said.

“I had an idea of what to expect from this league and I knew it would be very tough. I know what I have to do and that I have to work two or three times harder, because it is two or three times better than where I came from.

“It’s the intensity and the level. I am enjoying the challenge.”

Having settled in a place just outside Sheffield, the 22-year-old is still getting accustomed to life in South Yorkshire and is enjoying his time in the city. He takes a controversial stance on a local hotspot he has enjoyed visiting, however, saying he finds trips to Meadowhall ‘relaxing’. You can tell he works Saturdays.

Musaba described a changing room that has been helpful to himself and his fellow new boys - and one full of characters.

“There are some jokers,” he smiled. “Gassama is really funny, so is Mallik. But I am good with everybody, even the older and experienced guys who have helped me.

“It’s a good team, everybody is helping each other and that is important.”