When Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo announced their retirement from international football right after the AFCON, it felt like a new dawn in the Super Eagles. These two legends had served Nigeria well though they could still have prolonged their career in the national team especially Odion Ighalo, however, they wanted to leave on a high and they knew they were leaving the team in good hands.

That evolution is still not complete with Ahmed Musa in the team. The Al Nassr star who became Nigeria’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup in Russia after his brace against Iceland, taking him to four goals has had an impactful career in the national team. He was a significant part of the Super Eagles team that won the AFCON in 2013 and his display against Mali in the semi-final will fondly be remembered among other memorable performance like against Argentina in 2014 World Cup and Iceland in 2018.

In his nine-year career with the Super Eagles, Ahmed Musa has scored 15 goals in 87 appearances and one AFCON title; not bad from a short dark boy from Jos, who held the NPFL’s highest goal scored (18) in a single season for a while.

After a brilliant performance at the World Cup which followed his struggles at Leicester City, Ahmed Musa's decision to join Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia was shocking from a football point of view but understandable financially. That moved signalled the Super Eagles’ captain decision to stop playing competitive football and start making money. It was a great move for Ahmed Musa but a bad move for the Super Eagles.

Despite his many attempts to play down questions over his fitness and competitive edge at the last AFCON, on the pitch, it was very obvious he had declined. It was frustrating to watch Ahmed Musa at the last AFCON, where the poor quality of opponents he must have been facing in Saudi Arabia was evident in his decision making on and off the ball.

Football is just like life, the better the people you surround yourself with, the better you will become. Ahmed Musa is obviously not surrounding himself with talented footballers in Saudi Arabia, that has significantly dropped his form as he looked a level below Samuel Chukwueze and Odion Ighalo as Super Eagles attacking trident at the last AFCON.

Though Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was forced to play him being the captain of the team, it was quite obvious that the team looked weaker starting Ahmed Musa and stronger without him. His presence hampered the progress of players like Samuel Kalu and Henry Onyekuru who were by far in a better form than Ahmed Musa.

With every passing Super Eagles game, it is becoming more obvious that Ahmed Musa is more of a liability than an asset to the team, basically hindering the growth of more youthful and hungry players in the team. Post AFCON, the Super Eagles are yet to lose a game, against quality opponents like Ukraine and Brazil. Not only has the result being good, but the quality of the performance has also been better without Ahmed Musa in attack in those games. Gernot Rohr has also infused talents like Joe Aribo, Olayinka and Emmanuel Dennis into the team, creating a big fight for places in the Super Eagles attack.

Ahmed Musa maybe 27, but his decision to move Saudi Arabia meant he was planning for an early retirement because hungry players don't move to such leagues and the national team should be filled with hungry and in form players.

His late sub in Super Eagles win against Benin Republic on Wednesday suggest that the national team is moving past Ahmed Musa and before familiarity breeds contempt, he should call time in the national team and enjoy what football fans call ”pension money” in Saudi Arabia.

he will go when the time is right or trust Nigerians we'll chase him out if he's performance continue to drop.

Now that we have a strong team, We need a better coach.

You should go and remove him from the team. When its time for him to retire, he will.