Festus Abu
Ahmed Musa’s starting place in the Super Eagles could come under threat from German-born Hannover 96 forward Noah-Joel Bazee, our correspondent has learnt.
The 20-year-old finally agreed to switch his international allegiance to Nigeria following pressure from the Eagles German manager Gernot Rohr.
Bazee, whose father is a Nigerian and his mother a German, tops the list of new young players invited by Rohr for the friendly games against Senegal on March 23 and Burkina Faso on March 27. Both matches will be played in London.
Sources told our correspondent on Wednesday that Rohr, who is still scouring Europe for talented players with Nigerian roots, believes Bazee can develop into a top-class attacker after monitoring his performances for his German Bundesliga 2 side.
Rohr is said to be considering the versatile 1.82m right midfielder, who is blessed with power, pace and great dribbling skills, for a starting role on his international debut in the March 23 fixture against Senegal, with Leicester City forward Musa dropped to the bench.
According sources, Rohr is yet to be convinced that Musa, who has been struggling to make his mark at Leicester, is good enough for a first-team role in the Eagles. And the 63-year-old is hoping Bazee will prove to be a starting player on the right side of his midfield during the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying double-header against Cameroun in August and September.
It was also learnt that the former Gabon coach is considering moving Musa, who he has made the stand-in captain of the national team for the upcoming friendlies following Mikel Obi’s omission from the squad, to the top striking role.
Meanwhile, Bazee has attracted interest from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach and some Premier League clubs.
Monchengladbach’s Director of Sports Max Eberl confirmed on Wednesday that the Borussians were interested in signing the player from Hannover.
The 43-year-old told German outlet Bild that they had shortlisted Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Gedion Zelalem ( Arsenal) and Bazee for the summer transfer market.
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