England manager Gareth Southgate and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta must have been thinking the same thing as Yunus Musah turned on the afterburners and embarked on one of those trademark box-to-box runs last night.
Shortly after turning down the chance to sign a professional contract at Arsenal, swapping north London for La Liga, Valencia’s all-action midfield general turned his back on England too.
Musah had made a combined total of 32 appearances for the Three Lions at youth level.
But the New York native wasted little time in committing his international future to the USA earlier this year, joining Sergino Dest, Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie and Matthew Hoppe in arguably the most star-studded USA ‘roster’ ever.
“It was a mixture of things,” Musah told CBS Sports when explaining why he chose the USMNT over England.
“I’m really into the project we have of building this team, this new identity and trying to change the view of American soccer in the world.
“That really inspired me and was one of the things I really wanted to be involved in.”
Former Arsenal starlet Yunus Musah shines on the international stage
Musah was certainly involved – in every sense of the word – during last night’s 2-0 World Cup qualification victory over Jamaica. He produced the sort of all-action performance that sparked comparisons with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ansu Fati and Paul Pogba – something that highlights his versatility as well as mind-bending potential.
“Yunus stands out for his Pogba-like athleticism to power away from defenders,” explains Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper, who coached Musah for England U17s.
“If he receives possession in broken play in midfield, he drives away from opponents and leaves them behind.
“He has the technique of a real ‘football-playing’ midfielder but the athleticism and daring to make him a guy who’ll penetrate dangerous opposition areas because he has also got great self-belief.”
All those attributes – the technique, athleticism and supreme self-confidence – were on show as USA took one big step towards qualification for the 2022 World Cup.
Here’s what some USA supporters on Twitter thought of Musah and their team’s performance last night:
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