The Super Eagles skipper was close to joining the Baggies, but the deal has hit the rock following the English side's failure to meet the Nigerian's financial demands
West Bromwich Albion boss Sam Allardyce has confessed that the club did not sign free agent Ahmed Musa because of their inability to cough out the money demanded by the Nigerian and his representatives.
Allardyce has therefore dismissed suggestions that the Baggies passed up the opportunity to snap up the former Leicester City attacker because of the presence of stronger players in his position.
West Brom were active during the January transfer window, with four different players walking in through the doors of the Hawthorn.
The Baggies secured the loan signings of Mbaye Diagne, Okay Yokuslu, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Galatasaray, Celta de Vigo, and Arsenal, respectively.
And Allardyce has confirmed that the Albion couldn't work around the budget to add the Super Eagles captain to the other signings.
“We’d already brought four players in, so it didn’t fall within our budget anymore,” Allardyce was quoted as saying by Birmingham Live.
“More players would have had to have left to have funded that one. It’s a shame that Musa didn’t get in or come in earlier, obviously because of Covid, he couldn’t make it.
“He may have been one of the four that we brought in, but because he was the fifth, it couldn’t get done.”
Several Albion fans have reacted to the club's decision not to sign the 28-year-old forward who boasts international and Champions League experience.
Musa has been without a club since mutually terminating his contract with Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr last October.
