Could LA Move Help Troost-Ekong Lead Super Eagles into Successful New Era?

Plenty has been written about Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and many heads are still being scratched as to what exactly went wrong during qualifying.

Some of those questions have been answered with the sacking of Augustine Eguavoen and his coaching staff, and so the Nigerian Football Federation will now need to oversee a rebuilding operation that gets the right head coach in.

Of course, the players have to take some responsibility for the failure to qualify for Qatar too, and nobody has shouldered that burden more than the captain, William Troost-Ekong, who has apologised for the Super Eagles’ dismal efforts.

The 28-year-old’s own future in club football has come under scrutiny after it was reported that Los Angeles Galaxy was interested in signing the defender from his current employer, the English Premier League side Watford.

Would that be a wise career choice for him? There are critics of Major League Soccer (MLS), who claim it is of low quality or sees it as a footballing retirement home for faded stars. But in LA, Troost-Ekong could join the likes of Mexico international Javier Hernandez and former Bayern Munich and Juventus attacker Douglas Costa, to name just a few.

And so it would be wrong to suggest that his game would suffer, especially as so many of the successful United States and Canada national teams – both of whom have qualified for the World Cup – play their club football in the MLS. The leading betting sites, such as bet365, give the US odds of 100/1 to win in Qatar, which is roughly the same as the likes of Switzerland, Senegal, and Serbia. But these bookmakers also offer prices on each team to qualify from their group, and they believe that the United States is an even-money shot to make it out of Group B.

Once the Premier League season is over, Troost-Ekong will have to decide on what his future holds – will he stay at Watford, who are likely to be relegated from the Premier League, or pack his bags and try his luck in America?

If he opts for the latter, don’t write the Super Eagles captain off – the standard of play in the MLS is improving with every passing year.

Out of the Hornets Nest?

Troost-Ekong is just one of three Nigerians to ply their trade at Watford, with Peter Etebo and Emmanuel Dennis also flying the Super Eagles flag with the Hornets.

Like their international captain, both will have big decisions to make if/when Watford are relegated to the Championship, and in Dennis’ case in particular you suspect there will be no shortage of interest in his signature.

The 24-year-old has contributed ten goals and five assists in 30 Premier League outings so far this season, and that is a tremendous effort given just how badly the Hornets have struggled.

What’s more, he has achieved those attacking feats despite featuring in the starting eleven of two defence-minded coaches – first Claudio Ranieri, and then Roy Hodgson when the former was sacked back in January.

Dennis, who was born in Yola and played his junior football at the Kwara Football Academy in Kwara State, would be one of the most saleable assets at Watford should they decide to balance the books following relegation – it has been reported that the club could be as much as £139 millionin debt, a situation exacerbated by being demoted to the second tier.

The striker only cost the Hornets an estimated £3.5 million when he joined Club Bruges in the summer of 2021. Dennis had already scored goals in the Champions League against Real Madrid, so he clearly has the ability to play in football’s top tier.

But current club Watford is unlikely to be able to offer him that chance in the 2022/23 season, so is a move away now a formality?

A transfer to a higher quality team could not only improve the 24-year-old’s game but also help Nigeria in the future, and as the Super Eagles look to begin their rebuild it is Dennis who they could and perhaps should use as the lynchpin for the next generation.