Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, has disclosed that Before signing for English Premier League side Leicester City, He was told that Riyad Mahrez was leaving
Ahmed Musa quits Leicester for Saudi club Al Nassr – Photo credit: Vanguard News
Musa revealed that he did not get enough playing time during his time at Leicester City because of his former Foxes teammate, Riyad Mahrez.
Musa joined Leicester City from Russia side, CSKA Moscow, for a club-record fee of £16.6million in July 2016.
The 27-year-old forward only managed two goals in 21 Premier League games for Leicester as he was behind Mahrez in the pecking order at the King Power Stadium.
According to the super eagles captain “Before they signed me at Leicester City, they told me Riyad Mahrez was leaving,” Musa said on Instagram Live with South African sports broadcaster, Carol Tshabalala.
“If I knew that Mahrez is going to stay, I would not join Leicester, and I would have remained at CSKA Moscow. When I came, we had a lot of wingers at Leicester City, yet, I still got the chance to play.”
The winger revealed he joined the Foxes because of the assurance given him that their star-forward Riyad Mahrez was on his way out of the club.
The Algeria international did not, however, leave the King Power Stadium until the summer of 2018 when he moved to Manchester City.
Musa finally left Leicester in 2018 to join the Saudi Arabia club, Al Nassr.
The forward revealed he started his career as a goalkeeper while in primary school and was so good in the position he was made the school’s games prefect.
Ahmed Musa later switched to an outfield player and joined GBS Football Academy and his pace and dazzling skills distinguished him in the youth team.
It did not take too long before he was noticed by Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) clubs and subsequently teamed up with JUTH FC on loan.
His breakthrough came when he joined Kano Pillars on another loan move and went on to score 18 league goals in the 2009-2010 season, becoming the first player to achieve the feat in the NPFL.
“When I was in primary school in Jos, I was a goalkeeper. I started as a goalkeeper, I don’t even know what brought me to start playing as an outfield player,” Musa said on Instagram Live.
“Yes, I enjoyed the role. In primary school, I was the games prefect and I was one of the best goalkeepers in the primary school”.
After his eye-catching performances in the Nigerian league, he signed for VVV-Venlo in 2010 but the move was delayed because he was still 17 years of age.
In October, he joined the Dutch side when he turned 18 years and explained he wanted to return to Nigeria due to the weather conditions in the Netherlands.
“They saw me when I was playing in the Wafu home-based tournament in Abeokuta when Nigeria hosted and we won,” he continued.
“I signed my professional contract here in Abuja but I couldn’t travel because I was 17 then I had to wait until I was 18.
“When I was 18, I flew to Holland, only had two training sessions before I played my first game, it was not that easy and the weather was crazy.
“I was crying when I was playing because of the cold. One day I said to myself I can’t make it and need to go back to Nigeria but we Africans have one mentality – that whatever you want to do you can achieve it.
“I was saying I’m going to get to deal with it and my agent told me with time I’ll get used to the weather.”
In 2012, Musa left the Netherlands for Russia, joining CSKA Moscow and enjoyed great success, scoring 42 league goals in 125 appearances and helped his side win three Russian Premier League titles, Cup and Super Cup trophies.
His form generated interest from a number of European clubs before settling for Leicester in 2016, who were recently crowned Premier League champions.
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