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Tag: Moses Simon

  • Simon rejects Dortmund, Fenerbache

    Simon rejects Dortmund, Fenerbache

    Nigeria international, Moses Simon has told africanFootball.com he turned down several European clubs including Borussia Dortmund, Fenerbache and Liverpool in the English Premier League to stay put at Belgian champions Gent.

    Simon, who is currently at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand with Nigeria, said he wishes to stay at least another season at Gent before he would decide his next destination.

    The player makes history with Belgian champions Gent

    “Fenerbache, Dortmund and Liverpool were among the clubs who were interested in signing me, but I wish to stay at least another season at Gent before I decide what is next for me,” he told africanFootball.com.

    “I still have three more years left of my contract with Gent, but the league in Germany or England would interest me at some point.”

    Simon’s immediate target will be next season’s UEFA Champions League.

    “We are all looking forward to featuring in the Champions League after against all odds we won our first Belgian championship in 115 years,” he added.

    “It’s a big stage for all of us and we wish to make the most of it.”

    The left winger scored seven goals after he joined up with Gent in January. It was a performance that saw him finished as the second best African player in the Belgian top-flight league this past season.

  • Garba tips Awoniyi, Iheanacho Sokari to shine at WYC

    Garba tips Awoniyi, Iheanacho Sokari to shine at WYC

    Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Kingsley Sokari and Moses Simon are the players Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has picked to shine at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which begins next week.

    Awoniyi’s goals helped the Flying Eagles to win the African Youth Championship in March, Iheanacho is firing again after injury, while Enyimba midfielder Sokari has broken into the first team and Moses Simon proved his worth by clinching the Belgian league championship with Gent.

    “Right from the qualifiers, Taiwo Awoniyi has been very consistent and he has improved match after match. He is a player who gets into a scoring position better than any other player,” africanFootball.com quoted Garba as saying in an interview.

    “I believe if he stayed calm, he will be one player who will do very, very well at the World Cup.

    “There are some others like Kelechi Iheanacho, who was the best player at the last U-17 World Cup. If he was free of injury, he will hit very big as well.

    “There is also Kingsley Sokari. If he listened very well and works very hard too, he will have a great World Cup.

    “You cannot forget a player like Moses Simon, who has been fantastic in Belgium, he will be great.”

    Garba is upbeat about the quality running through the Flying Eagles that he predicted the team to produce both the best player and top scorer at the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

    “I believe the best player and highest scorer (of the World Cup) will come from my team,” he tipped.

  • Simon wins Belgian League with Gent

    Simon wins Belgian League with Gent

    Moses Simon has won a first-ever Belgian league championship with Gent after the team defeated Standard Liege 2-0 with the Flying Eagles forward causing a penalty which led to the second goal.

    It is Simon’s first winners’ medal in Europe as Thursday’s victory meant Gent recorded an unassailable lead at the top of the playoffs table in Belgium, africanFootball.com reports.

    The club has 49 points, five points ahead of closest rivals Club Brugge, with the last game of the playoffs slated for Sunday.

    Gent had been runners-up in the Belgian league twice, in the 1954/55 and 2009/10 seasons.

    The U-20 World Cup-bound Simon was upended inside the box in the 50th minute and Renato Neto put away the resulting penalty to double Gent’s lead.

    19-old Simon, who played as a twin striker, was replaced in the 74th minute.

    He scored seven goals in 17 appearances for the newly crowned Belgian champions.

    He joined Gent in January from Slovak club Trencin.

  • WYC: Moses Simon may be omitted from Nigeria squad

    WYC: Moses Simon may be omitted from Nigeria squad

    Flying Eagles coach, Manu Garba, is undecided whether to include Gent of Belgium forward, Moses Simon, in his 21-man squad for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, sl10.ng reports.

    Garba has concluded on his team for the World Cup in New Zealand, but is yet to decide on two players to drop from the squad.

    The 19-year-old Simon is currently involved in a league play-off for his Belgian club, and is not expected to join the team until at least May 25.

    Although Garba is disposed to having the former AS Trencin attacker in the team, sl10.ng gathered that he is unsure whether to include the player in the final list since he hasn’t been a part of the team and as a result the coach has not submitted his list to the Nigeria Football Federation.

    The deadline for the submission of final lists is midnight on Friday, and Manu has until Friday evening to submit his list to NFF for onward submission to FIFA.

     

  • German clubs join scramble for Simon

    German clubs join scramble for Simon

    German Bundesliga sides – Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt have joined the chase for Super Eagles winger, Moses Simon, who currently plies his trade with AA Gent in Belgium.

    Reports in Belgium and Turkey said the player has been extensively scouted by Fenerbahce with a view to a possible move in the summer transfer market.

    But the Yellow Canaries face competition from the German clubs who will look to secure the player’s signature in June, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

    Simon has made 11 appearances in the Belgium Jupiler League since his move from AS Trencin in the January transfer window, scoring seven goals.

  • Gent stop Moses Simon from U-20 World Cup

    Gent stop Moses Simon from U-20 World Cup

    Nigeria have been dealt a major blow ahead of next month’s FIFA U-20 World Cup after Belgian club Gent said they will not release star forward Moses Simon for the tournament because it is not on the FIFA calendar.

    AfricanFootball.com can exclusively reveal that Gent will block ‘Daddy’ Moses Simon from the World Cup in New Zealand also because they say he is a very important player for them as they close in on the Belgian league title.

    “Moses Simon will not be released for the World Cup because his club insist the competition is not on the FIFA calendar.This is a mistake on the part of Gent because the World Cup is on the calendar,” an official informed AfricanFootball.com.

    Simon, who made his Super Eagles debut last month against Uganda in Uyo, is on the provisional 35-man squad for the World Cup after he played a role as the Flying Eagles reached the knockout rounds of the 2013 tournament in Turkey.

    Nigeria were without several key players like Isaac Success, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, for the recent African Youth Championship in Senegal after their European clubs blocked them, arguing that the competition was not on the FIFA calendar.

    The 19-year-old Simon has scored six goals in the regular season for Gent since his January transfer from Slovakia.

    Gent are top of the Belgian championship playoffs ahead of Club Brugge and Anderlecht and so on course to featuring in the UEFA Champions League next season.

    The playoffs will end on May 17, less than two weeks before the World Cup begins in Auckland, New Zealand.

  • AA Gent leads race for Moses’ signature

    AA Gent leads race for Moses’ signature

    Belgium Jupiler side AA Gent appears to have won the race to sign in-demand Nigeria forward, Moses Simon.

    The AS Trencin forward has sparked off a bidding war between Dutch clubs Heerenveen and Ajax Amsterdam but Belgium side Gent is now ahead of the chasing pack, sl10.ng says.

    “Simon Moses is closer to joining Gent than any of the clubs chasing him as the club is closest to meeting Trencin valuation of him,” Muyiwa Lawal told sl10.ng.

    Lawal, who is very close to the deal, said AS Trencin rejected proposals from Ajax and a revised proposition from Heerenveen and another unnamed Belgian club.

    His goal-scoring return of 17 in 38 games for AS Trencin has increased his valuation 18 months after Ajax Amsterdam passed on the chance to sign him after a short trial.

  • U-20 foreign- based players get January 15 deadline

    U-20 foreign- based players get January 15 deadline

    Foreign based players invited by Flying Eagles handlers for preparation towards next year’s African Youth Championship have been given a January 15 deadline to report to camp.

    “All the invitations have been sent out to the foreign based players we need for the AYC and we have given them a deadline of January 15 to join us in Kaduna,” Flying Eagles secretary, Auwal Aliyu Ibrahim, told africanFootball.com.

    “So far we have received assurances from their various clubs that they will be available for the tournament in Senegal.”

    The invited foreign based players are – Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali, Isaac Success, Chidera Eze, Musa Muhammed, Kingsley Madu, Moses Simon, Taiwo Awoniyi and Musa Yahaya.

    The Flying Eagles training camp in Kaduna will reopen on Saturday after a week’s break for the Christmas holidays.

     

  • Tottenham still wants Moses Simon

    Tottenham still wants Moses Simon

    Tottenham Hotspur officials hope to revive their interest in AS Trencin striker Moses Simon in the next few months after missing out on his services in the summer transfer window.

    But the English Premier League club faces competition from an unnamed Dutch club, whose identity is unknown at the moment.

    But allnigeriasoccer.com gathered that there is a Nigerian player currently on the payroll of the Eredivisie side interested in the acquisition of the ex-Golden Eaglets’ winger.

    Despite rumours that he is wanted by at least three English Premier League clubs, the London side is in pole position to sign the 19 – year – old  because of his manager  -Tony Harris connection with the club’s top hierarchy.

    It would be recalled that Super Eagles’ midfielder Reuben Gabriel practiced with the White Hart Lane outfit before his shift to Waasland-Beveren earlier this year.

    Gabriel is also managed by the British-born agent.