The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Moses

  • Keshi: Moses not fit

    Keshi: Moses not fit

    Stephen Keshi has told AfricanFootball.com he left out Victor Moses from Nigeria’s AFCON 2015 qualifiers against Congo and South Africa because the forward has lost form.

    Victor Moses, who has joined English Premier League side Stoke City, was conspicuously missing from Keshi’s 23-man squad, released on Tuesday for next month’s AFCON qualifiers against Congo and South Africa.

    “I watched Victor Moses at Chelsea’s pre-season and he seemed to be struggling as he had limited play time with the club,” Keshi told only AfricanFootball.com.

    “Now that he has joined Stoke City, I think he needs time to get back to the player we know him to be.

    “I think it’s time he made up his mind what he wants, if he wants to play football or not.”

    After emerging as one of Nigeria’s top stars at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, Victor Moses missed the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil on account of injury, before he struggled to make an impact at the recent World Cup.

    Last season, he endured a torried time at Liverpool after he was shipped out on loan by Chelsea and this season, he has again been released on loan to Stoke City as he does not figure in Jose Mourinho’s plans.

  • Mark Hughes Defends Moses

    Mark Hughes Defends Moses

    Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has leaped into the defence of on-loan Nigeria forward Victor Moses who had a disappointing loan spell at Liverpool last season.

    Hughes said the on-loan forward from Chelsea was a victim of circumstances at a big club and he is optimistic that Moses will be a hit at the Stoke City.

    “They (Liverpool) found a way of playing they stuck to and he was left out,” Hughes told Stoke Sentinel.

    “I don’t think it was his fault, he just didn’t get back into the team. That can happen when you go to a big club.”

    On why Stoke City opted for the Nigerian, the gaffer revealed Moses’ style of play will give them what they lack and compliment how they intend to play this season.

    “We’re pleased we’ve been able to get him in, we feel he’s a player that can give us power and pace, we’ve probably lacked that a bit,” added Hughes.

    He also confirmed that Moses will be given opportunities to force his way into Stoke City’s starting line up.

    “He hasn’t played a great deal in the last couple of seasons, so he wants to play and he will be given that opportunity. It’s up to him if he takes it and am sure he will,” continued the Stoke manger.

    Moses will be Stoke City’s last addition to their squad this summer and the Stoke media are speculating that Moses will make his debut for the Potters in Saturday’s game against Hull City.

    Stoke City lost their first game at home to Aston Villa by a lone goal.

  • Moses to join Stoke City on loan

    Moses to join Stoke City on loan

    • Undergoes medical 

    Super Eagles midfielder Victor Moses is set to join Stoke City on a season-long loan deal.

    Reports coming out of England late Friday night has it that Stoke City are poised to sign the Nigerian international pending a succesful medical.

    SportingLife can report that the former Wigan star will undergo a medical at Stoke’s Clayton Wood training ground this morning to complete the formalities of his move to Britannia Stadium but won’t be available for today’s game against Aston Villa.

    The 23 year-old star, who will be Stoke’s sixth summer signing, has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea since Jose Mourinho returned last summer.

    Moses spent last season on loan at Liverpool when he started six Premier League games and featured in 13 from the bench, scoring his only goal on his debut against Swansea.

    Moses, who was handed Chelsea number No 18 shirt on Friday in the Blues jersey shake-up and  made his first appearance for the Blues as a substitute in their 2-1 victory over Hungarian side Ferencvaros in one of the team’s pre-season matches, raising the hope of getting the chance to fight for a shirt under Mourinho.

    But with the latest development, it seems Moses will play his football at the Potters on loan this season.

    Having first made his name at Crystal Palace, Moses switched to Wigan for over £2m in 2010.

    He impressive  enough there to earn a £9m move to Chelsea in the summer of 2012 but has since struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.

    Born in Nigeria, he chose to represent England at various youth levels up to the under-21s before deciding to play for the country of his birth in senior internationals.

    Stoke boss Mark Hughes has spent all summer trying to sign a winger and Assaidi was his preferred choice after the 25 year-old Moroccan impressed on loan last season.

    But Assaidi’s wage demands became an impediment to a permanent deal in this transfer window.

    And when Norwich held out for a transfer fee of more than £6m for Redmond, that left Hughes turning to Moses to secure that natural width he wants.

  • 2014/2015 SEASON: Moses’ Chelsea door beckons

    2014/2015 SEASON: Moses’ Chelsea door beckons

    Victor Moses may still leave Chelsea as the club are believed to be keen to dispose of the Nigeria international.

    While doubts over John Mikel Obi’s future have been cleared, the same cannot be said of his compatriot, Moses, whose future at Stamford Bridge still hangs in the balance.

    The London Evening Standard claims that Chelsea are keen to sell the Nigeria international winger, but are struggling to find suitors for the 23-year-old who had a disappointing loan spell at Liverpool last season.

    Only West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa have reportedly shown strong interest in the player.

    However both sides are only interested in taking the player on loan, whereas Chelsea want an outright sale. Moses has already returned to full training at Cobham, following this summer’s World Cup.

  • Moses, Aluko in Europa stalemate

    Super Eagles forward Sone Aluko was in action as Hull City drew goalless at Trencin of Slovakia in a UEFA Europa League qualifier first leg match on Thursday night.

    Moses Simon gave a good account of himself for the hosts; in a game Tom Huddlestone missed a penalty kick.

    Former Enugu Rangers star Kingsley Madu was an unused substitute for the hosts at the Štadión Pod Dubnom.

    A lack of composure cost both sides in Zilina as chances went begging, leaving the tie wide open for next week’s return fixture at the KC Stadium.

    Early pressure from the hosts saw Bosnian forward Haris Hajradinovic have the first sight of goal in the 14th minute, but the 20-year-old’s effort was well blocked.

    It was a good outing for Simon and Aluko, but Madu should hope for better days ahead in the colours of his team.

    Having kept their hosts at bay, the Premier League side were unlucky not to break the deadlock 28 minutes in through Shane Long.

    It was Simon who saw two efforts blocked in quick succession after 35 minutes, first from an Alex Bruce tackle and then a Davies block which diverted the ball for a corner.

    After dominating large parts of the first half, the host’s maintained control of the game and eight minutes after the break Patrik Misak had the best effort of the contest so far.

    Having weathered a few half chances, Trencin finally found a foothold in the game inside the final 15 minutes when they started gain more possession, with Simon looking particularly dangerous when given too much time to run at City’s defence.

  • Mikel, Moses missing in Chelsea’s squad

    SUPER Eagles aces John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses were not part of Jose Mourinho’s 26-man squad which arrived in Austria on Monday for the start of Chelsea’s two-week European training camp.

    Both players helped Nigeria to Round of 16 finish at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and are expected back in their club for pre-season activities.

    However, Mikel’s omission will no doubt fuel speculations that the former Lyn Oslo player’s eight-year stint at Stamford Bridge could be coming to an end.

    The 27-year-old started in just 11 league games last season, and recent reports in Italy claim he has been offered to a number of Serie A teams including Inter Milan for around £6million.

    Moses on the other hand is being chased by five Premier League clubs – despite failing to make an impression during his loan spell at Liverpool last season.

    According to reports, West Brom are leading the chase for the 23-year-old’s signature with Swansea, Newcastle, Southampton and Everton also keeping an eye on developments.

    The Blues‘ three big summer signings Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis were part of the squad that touched down early in the afternoon before heading to their hotel.

    Youngsters Patrick Bamford, Nathan Ake, Jeremie Boga, Lewis Baker, Nathaniel Chalobah and Izzy Brown were also part of the team. Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Oscar, Ramires and Andre Schurrle were omitted after their extended World Cup campaigns.

    January signing Mohamed Salah also travelled with the squad after receiving confirmation that he will not have to return to Egypt to do military service.

    Chelsea’s first game of their pre-season tour is versus Wolfsberger AC on Wednesday, followed by matches against Olimpija, Vitesse and Werder Bremen.

    Their final match will be against Ferecavros in Budapest on the 10th August.

     

    Travelling squad in full:

    Petr Cech

    Matej Delac

    Mitchell Beeney

    Mark Schwarzer

    Branislav Ivanovic

    Oriol Romeu

    Kurt Zouma

    Andreas Christensen

    John Terry

    Gary Cahill

    Nathan Ake

    Cesar Azpilicueta

    Marco van Ginkel

    Nemanja Matic

    Nathaniel Chalobah

    Mohamed Salah

    Jeremie Boga

    Lewis Baker

    John Swift

    Cesc Fabregas

    Patrick Bamford

    Fernando Torres

    Diego Costa

    Dominic Solanke

    Filipe Luis

    Isaiah Brown

  • Moses named in World Cup ‘Elite Eight’

    Moses named in World Cup ‘Elite Eight’

    Super Eagles winger, Victor Moses has been named as one of the eight youngsters that will set the World Cup alight by Italian soccer website, forzaitalianfootball.com.

    In the write up, the Chelsea winger was named in fourth place in a list that had Mario Balotelli, Abel Hernandez (Uruguay), Paul Pogba (France) and Marco Veratti (Italy).

    Other names on the list are Raheem Sterling (England), Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku (Belgium).

    Despite spending most of his time on the bench last season, Victor Moses has been a sparkle of light for Nigeria in recent days, the story says.

    Moses’ two penalties against Ethiopia in the final crucial group game of African Cup last year paved the way for Nigeria to win the historic crown.

    With the skill of dribbling and the vigorous intensity of pace, Moses could be a real threat for an opponent’s defense.

    Moses was the live wire of the Nigerian team in the two friendly matches with Greece and USA, and is expected to start against Iran on Monday.

  • Besiktas want Moses

    Besiktas want Moses

    Besiktas are in the market for a new striker and have beamed their searchlight on Nigeria international Victor Moses.

    According to respected Turkish daily, Haberturk, Besiktas hope to close a deal for the winger cum attacker in the coming weeks.

    Moses’ priority is to remain in the Premier League and fight for a first team shirt at Chelsea or be snapped up by another team in the Premier League where he’s guaranteed regular football.

    But the leadership of the Black Eagles have given  Emmanuel Emenike a mandate, which is to convince his Super Eagles colleague and strike partner to join him in Turkey.

    Besiktas power brokers have promised to match and even surpass the 3.1 million Euros he currently earns at Chelsea.

    Ex Wigan manager, Roberto Martinez, now coach of Everton is also interested in renewing ties with one of his favourite students, Victor Moses.

  • Chelsea celebrate Mikel, Moses, Omeruo

    Super Eagles 2014 FIFA World cup bound trio of John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and Kenneth Omeruo have been celebrated by Barclays Premier League side, Chelsea after they were named in Stephen Keshi’s 30-man provisional squad for the forthcoming Mundial on Tuesday.

    The trio it would be recalled played leading role for Nigeria in last year’s African Cup of Nations triumph in South Africa.

    They also helped lead the Eagles to secure qualification for the World Cup after defeating Ethiopia in the final play-off.

    Mikel will be hoping to feature at a World Cup for the first time having missed the 2010 edition through injury.

    Moses and Omeruo, who have been on loan at Liverpool and Middlesbrough respectively this season, will also expect to make the final 23-man squad which has to be submitted by June 2.

     All three players experienced tournament football in Brazil at last summer’s Confederations Cup.

    The Eagles face Scotland in a warm-up at Craven Cottage on 28 May before further pre-tournament friendlies with Greece and the USA. Nigeria will battle Iran, Bosnia and Argentina in the group stage of the World Cup.

  • Moses to replace Everton forward

    Everton are lining  up Chelsea’s Liverpool on-loan winger, Victor Moses as a replacement for Gerard Deulofeu, according to footballdirectnews.com

    The Nigerian international faces a fight for his future when he returns to parent club, Chelsea this summer, but could be available for a modest fee or sent out on a temporary basis once again.

    Barcelona wideman Deulofeu head back to the Nou Camp when his Toffees loan expires at the end of the current campaign and has made no secret of his desire to establish himself in Spain, leaving Everton short of width for next term.

    A source close to the Merseyside outfit told footballdirectnews.com, that Moses has been identified as the man to fill the gap, with head coach Roberto Martinez keen to work with his former Wigan Athletic attacker once more.

    The 23-year-old is unlikely to see his stay at Anfield extended after struggling to nail down a regular spot with the title challengers, while his path to first-team action at Stamford Bridge is blocked by the likes of Willian, Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle.

    His contract in west London has three years left to run.