{"id":861498,"date":"2025-07-10T21:12:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T02:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/finidi-george-ex-ajax-star-questions-osayi-samuels-move-to-birmingham-city\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T21:12:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T02:12:14","slug":"finidi-george-ex-ajax-star-questions-osayi-samuels-move-to-birmingham-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/finidi-george-ex-ajax-star-questions-osayi-samuels-move-to-birmingham-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Finidi George: Ex-Ajax star questions Osayi-Samuel\u2019s move to Birmingham City"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Former Super Eagles head coach Finidi George has expressed surprise at Bright Osayi-Samuel\u2019s decision to leave Turkish giants Fenerbah\u00e7e for English Championship side Birmingham City, <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The former Ajax star, who donned the colours of the Dutch club from 1993 to 1996,\u00a0suggested the defender could have aimed higher at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n<p>Osayi-Samuel recently signed a three-year deal with Birmingham City after declining a contract extension at Fenerbah\u00e7e, where he was a regular under several managers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_169508\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-169508\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Osayi-Samuel-signs-for-Birmingham-City.jpeg\" alt=\"Soccer Osayi-Samuel signs for Birmingham City\" width=\"1116\" height=\"1117\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-169508\">Osayi-Samuel signs for Birmingham City [Photo credit\/X]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The move has drawn mixed reactions from the Nigerian football community, with Finidi joining those who expected the 27-year-old to remain in top-flight European football rather than a newly promoted EFL Championship club.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI really do not know his motive for not renewing with Fenerbah\u00e7e and going back to England,\u201d Finidi said to <a href=\"https:\/\/footy-africa.com\/finidi-urges-nigerian-stars-to-dream-bigger-after-osayi-samuels-birmingham-switch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Footy Africa<\/a>.<br \/>\n\u201cFor me, I think players should be aiming high while they still have the energy and age on their side to play at the highest level. That is what I was expecting from Bright (Osayi-Samuel).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is a good player who I believe can play in the big leagues and with big clubs \u2014 with due respect to Birmingham City.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite his concerns, Finidi downplayed suggestions that the move to a second-tier side could affect Osayi-Samuel\u2019s place in the Nigerian national team.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_164399\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-164399\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/imago2578362.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Finidi George in action for Ipswich Town\" width=\"2212\" height=\"1470\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-164399\">Finidi George in action for Ipswich Town [Photo credit\/IMAGO]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The former Ajax winger praised the defender\u2019s performances for the Super Eagles and insisted that club level should not be a determining factor if the player continues to deliver on international duty.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cNo, I do not think it will affect him in any way in the Super Eagles because he is already a regular player in the team. He has demonstrated that he can play, and he fits in properly, giving his best anytime he is called upon,\u201d Finidi added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Super Eagles of Nigeria will be aiming to secure a World Cup ticket later this year, followed by a strong campaign at the 2025 AFCON tournament.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150381\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150381\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/imago1039355619-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Jose Peseiro speaking to Osayi Samuel during AFCON campaign\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150381\">Coach Jose Peseiro and Bright Osayi-Samuel of Nigeria during the TotalEnergies Caf Africa Cup of Nations Afcon 2023 match between Guinea Bissau and Nigeria [Photo credit\/Imago]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite his move to a second-tier club, the Nigerian international is still expected to play a key role in Eric Chelle\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Soccer Ayomide Oguntimehin\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ayomide-Oguntimehin-pics-150x150.jpg\"  height=\"80\" width=\"80\">\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/author\/ayomide-oguntimehin\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Editor at Soccernet.ng, with a proven track record in conducting interviews with Super Eagles stars such as William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ademola Lookman, and many others. He has also made a significant impact in breaking transfer news stories.<\/p>\n<p>Grounded in video editing, video journalism, social media management, and content strategy, Ayomide brings a wealth of expertise to his work.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/07\/finidi-george-ajax-osayi-samuel.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Former Super Eagles head coach Finidi George has expressed surprise at Bright Osayi-Samuel\u2019s decision to leave Turkish giants Fenerbah\u00e7e for English Championship side Birmingham City, Soccernet.ng reports. The former Ajax star, who donned the colours of the Dutch club from 1993 to 1996,\u00a0suggested the defender could have aimed higher at this stage of his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":861499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128252,857,2005],"tags":[128251,6181],"class_list":{"0":"post-861498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finidi","8":"category-george","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-finidi","11":"tag-george"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}