Yunus Musah at AC Milan (original) (raw)
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Here's an interesting one, as we in the business like to say: An Arsenal spokesperson informs me that their '02 Yunus Musah was born in New York. (I'm told he also has an Italian passport.) He seems to have appeared for both their U18s and U16s last season.
In the summer of 2018 he was linked with a move to Juventus, which of course didn't happen. As it turns out, just a few days ago a Spanish article linked him with Valencia.
https://eldesmarque.com/valencia/va...alencia-cf-de-pesca-en-la-cantera-del-arsenal
Here are some top bins. I'm too old to know what that means.
Musah confirms his birthplace in this video, which I found not long after hearing back from Arsenal. (He also compares himself to Pogba.) I don't know much about his parents and the interview doesn't really clarify things, but clearly he has some claim to English citizenship and maybe more.
Most of his early youth was spent in Italy. Amusingly, he says in the interview above that he worried when he left Italy that he wouldn't be able to play soccer any more. It turned out, luckily for him, they have soccer in England, too.
He has played for England -- including against us, in this October match:
England: 1 Louie Moulden (Manchester City), 2 Valentino Livramento (Chelsea), 4 Miguel Azeez (Arsenal), 5 Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City) (c), 6 Teden Mengi (Manchester United), 7 Alexander Mighten (Nottingham Forest), 8 Yunus Musah (Arsenal), 9 Sam Greenwood (Arsenal), 10 Fabio Carvalho (Fulham), 11 Morgan Rogers (West Bromwich Albion), 19 Dennis Cirkin (Tottenham Hotspur)
http://www.thefa.com/news/2018/oct/12/england-u17s-usa-report-121018
However, while I could absolutely have missed something, I don't believe he is cap-tied. England's U17s got a bye into the penultimate round of UEFA U17 qualifying and I couldn't easily find him on the squad for that round or the continental finals. England didn't qualify for this year's FIFA U17s.
Photos of him in both uniforms on his Insta:
https://www.instagram.com/yunus.musah8
Of course some of this may make you think of Arsenal's American-born EYNT player Flo Balogun. Who knows, maybe someday they'll rep the USA together. I'd say to dare is to do here, but I know that's not an Arsenal thing...
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/folarin-balogun-at-arsenal.2082404/
Only keep reading past this point if you happen to care about the ins and outs of researching players like this and why it can be both frustrating and enjoyable.
Musuh's name comes up when you search T'Markt for players born in the U.S. -- but his profile page lists him as English/Ghanaian, and doesn't mention a birthplace. That's enough to be interesting, but not much to go on. I'd seen it months ago but guessed it might be a Balogun-related error.
https://www.transfermarkt.de/yunus-musah/profil/spieler/503991
Of course, if for some reason I'd seen that and then immediately thought to watch the interview above, "#TalkingTekkers with Stevo The Madman," this would've been resolved easily. But I didn't...
Instead, I poked around the web and found things pretty messy. Here's an article that says he was born in America, lived in Italy, and is Ghana-eligible. But it's hard to know the sourcing for stories like this one, where there's no direct comment from the player or a representative, and I'm personally unfamiliar with the site.
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/players/azeez-musah-greenwood-amazing-arsenal-16213743
Lots of other stories and sites I found didn't mention a birthplace or any American connection. Here's an example from an Arsenal fansite.
https://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/...the-next-standout-schoolboy-for-arsenal-u18s/
At least one other story I found, which I have lost track of now, said he was born elsewhere. All told, not particularly conclusive.
I'd thought about posting about him on the Detective Work thread, but finally I just decided to email the club. I don't know anybody there, you'll be shocked to know, and I was pleasantly surprised when someone responded in fairly short order to emails I sent to generic inboxes. It never hurts to try! (I've sent questions to local Scandinavian clubs and never heard back, so my expectations when reaching out to organizations like these are pretty low.)
Amusingly, perhaps, their rep at first had bad news: Musuh, as far as they knew, was born in Italy. Then, a short while later, they followed up saying "We have since found out..."
Thought I would share this in hopes that inspires others who like digging around, asking questions, and finding and sharing things. Good luck and have fun. 2.
Staff Member
Arsenal
United States
Jul 15, 2014
Norman, Okla.
Club:
FC Dallas
Nat'l Team:
United States
That is great stuff, Dave! Love it (and love and appreciate your important contributions to BigSoccer!) 3.
On the other hand...we are also concerned with his well being.
Great work Dave as always! 4.
It's all good. Since I became a parent, my vices have become pretty tame. You're lookin' at 'em. 5.
Some highlights, via Twitter:
🔝 Yunus é o famoso box-to-box, motorzinho do time que preenche bem os espaços no meio-campo.
🚀 Outra característica importante é o seu poder de infiltração. No U16 Musah foi o artilheiro da equipe na Copa da PL.pic.twitter.com/DBJgqs1KWz
— Gunners Brazil (@gunners_brazil) May 3, 2019
And:
1141306723677933569 is not a valid tweet id
I couldn't immediately determine whether these would be considered top, middle, or bottom bins. 6.
Now reports of a "verbal agreement" to join Valencia. 7.
This was badly written (by me) and I wanted to clarify what I meant here so it didn't potentially seem like I was raising any questions about his Englishness. I meant "some kind of" claim, meaning simply that given that he was born in the States and has an Italian passport, I personally did not know the precise nature of his connection to the country for which he plays. And when I said "maybe more," I meant only to note that he is also sometimes referred to as Ghanaian. 8.
FWIW:
Most suited to operating as a deep-lying midfielder, Musah can also play as a number ten, on either flank, or even up front.
Like most Hale End graduates, the 16-year-old is excellent technically, while he is also capable of pushing forwards regularly to excellent effect.
Losing Musah would undoubtedly be a blow for Arsenal given the quality that he possesses, but he couldn’t be begrudged the opportunity to test himself elsewhere.
https://arseblog.news/2019/06/yunus-musah-departure-would-be-big-disappointment-for-arsenal-academy/ 9.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
Starts:
@TheFalseNine -- Let's update title to:
Yunus Musah at Valencia CF
Thanks. 10.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
11. 
English fans are hyping their kids even better than ours. Third tear sounds like English League 1 though it's much closer to English youth league. 12.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
13.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
14.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
Starts:
✔️ ONCE INICIAL VCF MESTALLA: Cristian Rivero, Marc Ferris (c), David Castro, Javi Jiménez, Adrián Guerrero, Adri Gómez, Vicente Esquerdo, Sergio Moreno, Carlos González, Yunus Musah y Jordi S. R.
✔️Vamos filial, a por el triunfo en Badalona 👏#VCFAcademy 🦇
— Academia VCF #ADNVCF 🦇 (@Academia_VCF) October 6, 2019 15.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
Starts in UEFA Youth League: 16.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
17.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
Starts in UEFA Youth League: 18.
He's been starting regularly for the U19s in the UEFA Youth League and coming off the bench with some consistency for Valencia Mestalla (read: Valencia B) in the third tier. 19.
United States
May 9, 2017
Played the full 90
Great to see Yunus Musah getting his chance in the Valencia first team a year after leaving Arsenal - he had ambition and self-belief, saw a path in Spain and is clearly on it. https://t.co/aT70jQ5HLq
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) August 22, 2020 20.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
On the bench for a friendly:
Came in somewhere around the 63rd minute:
1-1 | Some changes at VCF were made right before the goal ⤵️
➡️Yunus, Kang In & Thierry
⬅️Racic, Manu Vallejo & Jason#VCFVillarreal— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) August 28, 2020
Note: It appears his full name is "Yunus Dimoara Musah" and the club lists him as "Yunus Dimoara." 21.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
22.
Oct 9, 2011
Somerville, MA
Club:
New England Revolution
Nat'l Team:
United States
0-0 | 71' 🔁 Changes at VCF
➡️Racic, Manu Vallejo, Jason & Hugo González
⬅️Yunus, Kang In, Álex Blanco & Pedro Alemañ#LevanteVCF ⚽️— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) August 29, 2020
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