| Moses Simon | |
| Full Name: | Moses Daddy-Ajala Simon[1] |
| Birth Date: | 12 July 1995[2] |
| Birth Place: | Jos, Nigeria |
| Height: | 1.68 m[3] |
| Position: | Forward, left winger |
| Currentclub: | Nantes |
| Clubnumber: | 27 |
| Youthyears1: | 2003–2013 |
| Youthclubs1: | GBS Academy |
| Youthyears2: | 2013 |
| Youthclubs2: | Ajax |
| Years1: | 2014–2015 |
| Clubs1: | Trenčín |
| Caps1: | 33 |
| Goals1: | 13 |
| Years2: | 2015–2018 |
| Clubs2: | Gent |
| Caps2: | 76 |
| Goals2: | 21 |
| Years3: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs3: | Levante |
| Caps3: | 19 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs4: | → Nantes (loan) |
| Caps4: | 26 |
| Goals4: | 5 |
| Years5: | 2020– |
| Clubs5: | Nantes |
| Caps5: | 119 |
| Goals5: | 20 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2013–2015 |
| Nationalteam1: | Nigeria U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2015– |
| Nationalteam2: | Nigeria |
| Nationalcaps2: | 72 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 9 |
| Club-Update: | 23:33, 17 March 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 23:50, 26 March 2024 (UTC) |
Moses Daddy-Ajala Simon (born 12 July 1995) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Ligue 1 club Nantes and the Nigeria national team.[4]
Born in Jos, his father served in the Nigerian Army before his retirement. Simon is a product of the famed GBS Academy, the same football academy in Nigeria that produced the likes of Ahmed Musa.[5] He was linked with Nigerian Premier League club Kaduna United, as many professional clubs abroad were also eager to sign him.[6] On 10 May 2013, it was announced that Simon had signed a pre-contractual agreement with Dutch club Ajax to join them in pre-season training, having previously been linked with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.[7] He made his first appearance for Ajax on 13 July 2013 in a pre-season friendly match against De Graafschap, coming on as a substitute and scoring the third and final goal in the 64th minute of the match, in a 3–0 away win.[8] He made a further appearance on 17 July, playing for the reserves team Jong Ajax in a pre-season friendly match against Voorschoten '97, scoring the second goal in the 5–0 home win.[9] On 25 July 2013, it was announced that Ajax would not sign the young Nigerian, ultimately waiving him from the pre-season roster.[10] [11] After that announcement, discussions commenced with AS Trenčín; Ajax partner club in Slovakia, which is owned by former Ajax player Tschen La Ling.[12]
On 13 January 2014, Simon signed a three-year contract with the Slovak side Trenčín.[13] [14] He would join his compatriot Kingsley Madu.[15] He made his league debut in a 1–1 draw against MFK Košice starting on the right wing alongside Gino van Kessel who was on loan from Ajax.[16] He made his club international debut during the Trenčín's 2014–15 UEFA Europa League campaign, when he was introduced during the second preliminary round of the competition, in the home match against Vojvodina Novi Sad from Serbia (played at the stadium in Dubnica, Slovakia). Simon scored a hat trick on his debut in the 4–0 win at home.[17] AS Trenčín would eventually get eliminated in the following round, drawing at home, and falling 2–1 away against Hull City.[18]
In October 2014 ESPN sports prepared a scouting report on Moses Simon and the report linked the winger with a move to Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Hull City along with a potential return to Ajax.[19] The situation evolved into a bidding war between Dutch club Heerenveen and Gent, with the later contractually securing the winger for three years.[20]
On 6 January 2015, it was announced that Gent had signed Moses Simon to a three-year contract.[21] He made his debut for Gent on 17 January 2015 in a 3–1 win against Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz in league play.[22] His second appearance occurred four days later in a 1–0 home win against Lokeren in the Belgian Cup, in which Simon was sent off 30 seconds after he entered the field.[23] In his third league game, again versus Sporting Lokeren, Simon scored a hat trick after which he was named Belgian league player of the week. He quickly became a key player in coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck's formation and helped Gent win their first ever national Championship title in May 2015.[24] Two months later, Simon assisted Laurent Depoitre's winning goal in the 2015 Belgian Super Cup against cup winners Club Brugge.[25]
On 6 August 2018, Simon joined Spanish La Liga side Levante on a five-year contract.[26] In March 2019 he said he was glad to be playing for the team.[27]
On 15 August 2019, Simon was loaned out to Ligue 1 club Nantes.[28] At the end of the season, Nantes triggered the option to buy in Simon's loan. He signed a four-year contract with the club.[29]
On 22 December 2023, Simon extended his contract with Nantes until 2026.[30]
Simon received his first call-up to the Nigeria national team by coach Daniel Amokachi in March 2015 and made his debut on the 25th of the same month in an international friendly against Uganda, when he replaced Anthony Ujah after 59 minutes in the game.[31] Simon scored his first goal for Nigeria in an international friendly against Niger on 8 September 2015, the second in a 2–0 win.[32] He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[33]
In May 2018, he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[34] However, he did not make the final 23 due to injury.[35] He was included in the country's 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[36]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Trenčín | 2013–14[37] | Slovak Super Liga | 14 | 7 | — | — | — | 14 | 7 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Slovak Super Liga | 19 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | — | 25 | 10 | |||
| Total | 33 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | — | 39 | 17 | ||||
| Gent | 2014–15[38] | Belgian Pro League | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | 20 | 7 | ||
| 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 41 | 3 | ||
| 2016–17 | Belgian Pro League | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 5 | ||
| 2017–18 | Belgian Pro League | 20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 33 | 6 | ||
| Total | 76 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 33 | 5 | 136 | 21 | |||
| Levante | 2018–19 | La Liga | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 1 | |||
| Nantes (loan) | 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 5 | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | 3 | 30 | 9 | ||
| Nantes | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 30 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 6 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 5 | ||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 3 | ||||
| Nantes total | 145 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 168 | 29 | |||
| Career total | 273 | 55 | 26 | 2 | 29 | 3 | 38 | 8 | 366 | 68 | |||
| Nigeria | 2015 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 12 | 1 | ||
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2024 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Total | 72 | 9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Simon goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 2015 | Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria | 4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly | ||
| 2 | 11 October 2015 | Edmond Machtens Stadium, Brussels, Belgium | 6 | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | ||
| 3 | 17 November 2015 | Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, Nigeria | 8 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 4 | 4 September 2017 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 17 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 5 | 21 March 2019 | Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Nigeria | 22 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | ||
| 6 | 15 January 2022 | Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua, Cameroon | 45 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations | ||
| 7 | 13 June 2022 | Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco | 53 | 2–0 | 10–0 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | ||
| 8 | 27 March 2023 | Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau, Guinea Bissau | 57 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | ||
| 9 | 16 October 2023 | Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portimão, Portugal | 60 | 3–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
Gent
Nantes
Orders