Yunus Musah appears to be a locked-in starter at central midfield for the U.S. national team heading into this year’s World Cup but at the club level, Musah has barely featured for Valencia in the middle of the field.
Until now.
Under new Valencia head coach Gennaro Gattuso, Musah has been playing central midfield in the preseason after being used mostly out wide during his first two seasons with the La Liga club.
That change has Musah optimistic that 2022-23 could be a major breakthrough season for club and country.
“I like to play in the middle, it is a position where I have played since I was young,” Musah told Plaza Deportiva. “When I came up to the first team I played on the wing and I had to take advantage of the opportunity and do my best. At Valencia, they have not yet seen me in the middle.”
Asked if he feels central midfield is his best position, the 19-year-old responded: “I think so, I think I can show my quality there and I hope to.”
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Musah has made 61 total appearances for Valencia over the past two seasons, starting around half of those games. It’s an impressive track record for a player who is still a teenager, but his stellar displays for the USMNT this summer show he is still capable of more.
“It has to be my year,” Musah said. “I’ve been with the team for two years and I want to keep improving, I want to do very well in La Liga, help the team as much as possible and I know I have to improve in goals and assists. Being able to start in this team is something very important to me.”
Early returns of Yunus Musah at CM for Valencia in preseason are mighty promising. We are seeing some flashes of National Team Yunus out there. Absolute press resistance merchantpic.twitter.com/S1draDUdrQ
— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) July 24, 2022
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