Sheffield Wednesday linked with Nigeria’s free Super Eagle – Owls in for Ahmed Musa?

Sheffield Wednesday are reportedly hoping to bolster their forward ranks with the addition of free agent and former Leicester City striker Ahmed Musa.
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Musa, who is without a club after leaving Saudi side All Nassr last month, has been touted around a number of Premier League clubs in the past few weeks – if reports are to be believed – but is yet to strike a deal.

But who is Musa, how would he fit in at Wednesday and how realistic a prospect is it? Let’s take a look.

So, who is Ahmed Musa?

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Just turned 28, Musa is a former £25m forward who signed for newly-crowned Premier League champions Leicester City in 2016 in a whirlwind of optimism that their recruitment machine had unearthed another gem.

The Nigerian forward rocked up for a club-record £16.6m fee from CSKA Moscow, where he’d spent four-and-a-half seasons ripping up the upper echelons of the Russian Premier Division and returning a record better than one goal in three.

This is all after breaking through as a teenager in Nigeria and then in the Dutch Eredivisie at VVV-Venlo, making his international debut aged just 17.

Leaving Leicester after a solitary season of five goals in 33 matches, he was sold to Al Nassr for a reported £25m.

Nigeria international Ahmed Musa has been linked with a free transfer move to Sheffield Wednesday.Nigeria international Ahmed Musa has been linked with a free transfer move to Sheffield Wednesday.
Nigeria international Ahmed Musa has been linked with a free transfer move to Sheffield Wednesday.
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A 95-cap international, Musa is now keen on a return to English football and according to reports has been offered to the likes of Newcastle, West Ham and the Owls’ city rivals Sheffield United.

What sort of player is he?

Musa is best known for his pace. His best football has been played as a striker, playing off the shoulder, but he can also play wide, most notably out on the left.

He’s not shy and has been known to express his opinions from time to time. He made no secret of his desire to stay at Leicester but in an explosive interview after his departure claimed he was forced out of the club, who made a healthy profit on him.

“I wanted to stay in England because that has been my dream for years but what will you do when you’re told a bid has been accepted for you? I had to move to where I know I will be celebrated,” Musa told Own Goal Nigeria.

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“Talks have been on about how I moved for the money but nobody has considered the fact that Leicester City also sold me for the money. Transfers can only happen if both parties agree to it and that was my case.”

Hang on, isn’t the transfer window shut?

It has, but clubs can sign free agents. A number of deals have been done across the Championship in recent weeks.

The unusual nature of the unsettled transfer market means are a number of high-profile players still out of contract.

What’s Tony Pulis said?

Answering concerns about the free agents market after the Owls’ 1-0 defeat at Preston on Saturday, Pulis hinted that he was looking at his options, promising he’d be as ‘patient and as diligent as he possibly can’.

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“If we can get the opportunity to bring in maybe one or two players then I think that’s going to be massive for this football club,” he said.

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