Why did Ahmed Musa fail in the English Premer League?

Ahmed Musa has been included in a list of top 50 worst players in the English Premer League as compiled by reputable media outlet Four Four Two.

The 27 year old winger, who signed for Leicester on 8 July 2016 and stayed until August 2018, was ranked the 44th worst player in the English Premer League by the online football magazine.

After starting so well with smashing goals against Barcelona in August 2016 in the International Champions Cup, it would go downhill soon afterwards for Ahmed Musa at Leicester City.

At a point, the now-Saudi based winger was just playing for the Leicester Under-23s - it was that bad.

I am not surprised Musa made the list for some of the worst signings in the English Premer League history – an unenviable badge he shares with Julius Aghaowa whose brief stint for Wigan Athletic was arguably worse.

The 2002 World Cup goal scoring gymnast managed 20 caps and 0 goals in a wretched stay at the English Premier League before being hurled off to Kayserispor in Turkey the following season.

Why didn’t it work for Musa?

His partnership with Jamie Vardy was expected to revive the tantalising spirit of iconic combos like Manchester United’s Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole but that proved to be a false dawn.

In fact, Musa was meant to be used as a support striker whereas his best position was operating more from the flanks. As it became clearer that this was not working, key stakeholders - media, fan and backroom staff - lost faith with him.

The final nail in the coffin was the sacking of the coach who brought him to the club – Cladio Ranieri. Already, regarded as ‘damaged goods’ subsequent coaches more or less froze Musa out of the team almost entirely.

His chances of making the 2018 was in serious jeopardy before going on loan back to Cska Moscow where the real Ahmed Musa was revived. From managing just 2 goals in 20 games for Leicester, Musa scored 6 goals in 10 games on loan to CSKA in just 6 months!

What a huge difference working in a wonderful work environment makes. Where managers believe in you, accommodate you and push you to be the best you can be.

So, whereas Musa is in the list of the top 50 worst English Premer League players, he made the top 33 of the best players in the Russian Premier League in 2013.

I stand to be corrected but I think Ahmed Musa must be one of the most decorated African players ever to grace the Russian Premier League.

Whilst with CSKA Moscow, his achievements included:

Russian Premier League (3 times): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 Russian Cup: 2012–13 Russian Super Cup: 2013, 2014 Russian Cup top scorer: 2013.

The 27 year old Super Eagles World Cup legend was treated well in Russia hence the results were there for all to see.

Perhaps there should be a category for the top 50 badly treated players in the English Premer League!