French Ligue 1 club, Nantes, have activated their €5m option to sign Nigeria winger Moses Simon from Spanish outfit Levante, reports Completesports.com.
According to a report in ouest-france.fr, Simon has penned a four-year contract with the Canaries.
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The 24-year-old joined Nantes on one-year loan deal from Levante last summer.
Simon scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 30 appearances across all competitions for Christian Gourcuff’s men last season.
He spent one season at Levante following his arrival in 2018 from Belgian club KAA Gent.
6 Comments
Now stupid levante go now loose
Sometimes a player doesn’t fit into a club or managers style of play. Sometimes a player does not work because he doesn’t work well with personalities on or off the pitch.
We have seen this with Osimhen at Wolfsburg, we saw this with Onyekuru at Monaco, we saw this with Sadiq at Rangers. It’s important for players to find a “club that fits”. A club where they can get playing time, where they fit the philosophy, system and tactics.
As they get playing time, other higher profile teams will be able to see whether that player will also fit their club. This is what I see here
We have seen players move to teams that adopts similar philosophies to their previous teams yet struggles to meet expectations.
I’m not dismissing the points you brilliantly highlighted @ BigD which are reasonably some of many factors contributing to less output from a good signing.Below in my opinion are additional factors that could affect performances of a prospective newly signed football player.
Mental weakness- Some players may not have the right mindset to deal with the expectations of a huge club and this factor could affect their performances.
Social factors- This could also affect a player where you have to learn new languages,interactions and understanding of the coaching staffs,colleagues and getting used to life in a new environment.The culture could also affect a player,some cultures are easy to assimilate compare to others
Personally, if Moses Simon was guaranteed of regular playing time, I would have erred on the side of him going back to Levante. My thinking for this is rooted in thr fact the the wingback position to which he was deployed in Spain helped create a balance between the offensive and defensive aspects of his game.
I believe this made in a well rounded winger alive to both the attacking and defensive aspects of responsibilities – one that is able to respond as swiftly and sensitively as the severity of the situation demands.
I recall the first goal scored by Germany against Nigeria in the Olympic 2016 semifinals. Had Imoh Ezekiel honed the defensive aspect of his game, he may not have been wrapped in a fog of uncertainty which allowed the German to steal the match on him and stab home a crucial 1st goal which proved to be unassailable.
But in Nantes, Moses Simon has shone like a million stars and is guaranteed regular playing time. So, on these grounds it makes (more) sense for him to stay in a club where the road to regular football is as clear as daylight.
This is no doubt is a reward for Simon’s impressive showing for the French outfit.
His ability has never been in doubt going by his past games for both club and country, in which he’s combined skills with burning pace and goal scoring. What’s more! Simon needs to improve his game in the final third, by being more decisive and purposeful with the use of the ball. He should use his trickery, burning pace and movement to great effect in the final third without playing to the gallery, thus ensuring the right ball is dropped in to provide assist.
If he continues his impressive showing at Nantes, he surely should be in a pole position to make the SE 3 man attack with Osimhen, Chukwueze presumably staking a bold claim to the 1st two slots with their growing popularity among the fans and national team selectors on account of their performance.
There’s no gainsaying, Nigeria is blessed with so many forwards from Onyekwuru, Dennis Bonaventure Emmanuel, Kayode Lanre, Iwobi, Musa, Iheanacho, Umar Sadiq, Peter Olayinka, Dessers, Noah Bazee,Nwakeme, Onuachu, Simy Nwankwo. The list goes on.
Rohr’s selection headaches!
And I endorse the contents of your contribution above wholeheartedly – very nicely put. It is nice to read from you again bro.