Meet Yunus Musah, the ‘American Pogba’ who played for England but will line up AGAINST Three Lions at World Cup
VALENCIA teenager Yunus Musah featured for the England youth teams right up to U18 level.
The talented midfielder, who left Arsenal for the LaLiga side in 2019, could well have been a Three Lions star of the future.
GettyMusah turned out for England at various levels[/caption]
GettyHe ended up choosing the USA and has already accumulated a host of caps[/caption]
However, in 2020, he instead made the decision to accept a call-up for the USA – where he was born.
Since then, the man described by Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper as an “American Paul Pogba”, has gone on to receive 19 caps for the States.
Following the World Cup draw, the youngster is set to come up against England after playing in his birth country’s opening 1-1 draw with Wales in Group B.
And he insisted earlier this year he has no regrets about choosing USA over England.
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He said: “I enjoyed my time with England, the coaches and the players, it was amazing.
“But there came a time where I was playing first team at Valencia and the US coaches were talking to me a lot about the projects they had and I felt that I would play a part in it.
“We have a great team in the US and the project could be something big.”
Born in New York, Musah moved to London at the age of nine after a brief stint in Italy and was soon snapped up by Arsenal where he became a hot prospect alongside Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
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But with a professional contract awaiting his signature after playing an instrumental role in winning the U18 Prem title, Musah packed his bags and joined Valencia.
And with Saka and Smith Rowe now key players for Arsenal, the club’s track record of promoting young talent speaks for itself.
However, with Valencia handing a staggering 105 pro debuts to academy graduates in the last 30 years, Musah believes it was a no-brainer to leave back in 2019.
He said: “Seeing the likes of Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud, I wanted to be like them.
“I was aspiring to be the next step at Arsenal because I was under them.
“I played with Saka and Emile and they’re great players.
“I’m so happy they’re now playing in the first-team at Arsenal but my decision to leave was that I felt that Valencia had a great plan for me.
“They provided me with so much trust as you can see and with everything they were offering it sounded like a great plan.”
Musah has already had a major impact on Valencia since arriving in Spain two years ago.
He has made 79 appearances, scoring five goals and providing three assists.
Musah is yet to find the back of the net at international level, but he has registered two assists for USA.
