Victor Moses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victor Moses (born 12 December 1990) is a Nigerian professional
footballer who plays as a
winger or
wing-back on either flank for
Premier League club
Chelsea and the
Nigeria national team.
Moses began his career in the
Championship with
Crystal Palace, before his performances caught the eye of
Wigan Athletic, where he made his
Premier League
debut in 2010. After two years, his game had improved to the extent
that European champions Chelsea were interested, and he signed for them
in the summer of 2012. Despite ten goals in all competitions during his
first season, he spent his second season on loan to
Liverpool, his third on loan at
Stoke City and his fourth on loan at
West Ham United.
Born in Nigeria, Moses represented England at
under-16,
under-17,
under-19 and
under-21 levels, but opted to play for
Nigeria
as opposed to being fully capped for England. He has gained over 20
caps for Nigeria since his debut in 2012, and played in their winning
campaign at the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the
2014 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Early life
Moses was born in
Lagos, Nigeria,
[1] the son of a Christian pastor. When he was 11, his parents were killed.
[3] A week later, with his travel being paid for by relatives, Moses went to Britain as an asylum seeker.
[4] He attended
Stanley Technical High School (now known as the Harris Academy) in
South Norwood. Scouted playing football in the local Tandridge League for Cosmos 90 FC,
Crystal Palace approached him, with the club's
Selhurst Park stadium just streets away from his school.
[4]
Offered a place in the Eagles' academy, Palace recommended him to the fee-paying
Whitgift School in
Croydon, where former
Arsenal and
Chelsea star
Colin Pates was coaching the school football team.
[4]
Moses first came to prominence at 14 after scoring 50 goals for
Palace's under-14s side. Playing for three years at both Whitgift and
Palace, Moses scored over 100 goals as well as helping Whitgift win many
School Cups, including a National Cup where Moses scored all five goals
in the final against
Healing School of
Grimsby at the
Walkers Stadium, Leicester.
[5]
Crystal Palace
Moses with Crystal Palace in 2009
Moses made his first team debut for Palace at the age of 16 on 6 November 2007 in a 1–1 draw with
Cardiff City.
[6] He kept his place in the side thereafter and scored his first senior goal on 12 March 2008 in a 1–1 draw with
West Bromwich Albion.
[7] In total, Moses played 16 times in
2007–08 as Palace reached the Championship play-offs where they lost out to
Bristol City.
[8] At the end of the season, he signed a new contract at Selhurst Park, much to delight of manager
Neil Warnock,
who stated, "Victor signing is a huge coup for the club; I've told
Victor he could go as high as he wants. He's improving every day and I
am delighted that he has signed this deal as he is a player who will go
from strength to strength."
[9]
Moses score twice in 32 appearances in
2008–09 as Palace had a disappointing campaign, finishing in 15th position.
[10] In
2009–10,
Moses went on a run of six goals in eight matches but Palace were
suffering huge financial problems and the club went into administration
in January 2010.
[11]
Wigan Athletic
On the final day of January 2010, he completed a £2.5 million transfer to
Premier League side
Wigan Athletic after Palace went into administration.
[12] He made his debut on 6 February 2010 as a substitute against
Sunderland in a 1–1 draw.
[13] On 20 March 2010, Moses came on as a substitute against
Burnley and got his first assist for the club, setting up
Hugo Rodallega for an injury time winner.
[14] He scored his first goal for Wigan on 3 May 2010 against
Hull City.
[15]
Moses picked up two injuries at the start of the
2010–11 season,
[16]
and found it difficult to make it back into the first-team due to
increased competition for places. He scored his first league goal of the
season on 13 November 2010 in a 1–0 win against
West Bromwich Albion.
[17]
Following the departure of winger
Charles N'Zogbia, Moses became a regular starter for Wigan in the
2011–12 season.
On 10 December 2011, he scored his first goal of the season against
West Brom – his first goal since scoring against the same team last
season.
Chelsea
2012–13 season
On 23 August 2012, Wigan accepted a fifth bid from
Chelsea
after they finally met Wigan's asking price after four previously
unsuccessful bids. The player was given permission to speak with
Chelsea.
[18] On 24 August, Chelsea announced that the transfer of Moses had been completed.
[19] Moses played his first game for Chelsea when he appeared as a
substitute against
West London rivals
Queens Park Rangers on 15 September.
[20]
Moses made his full debut for Chelsea when he started the
League Cup game against
Wolverhampton Wanderers and scored his first goal after 71 minutes in a game that finished 6–0 to the Blues.
[21] Moses started his first
Champions League game against
Nordsjælland. On 31 October, Moses was named
Man of the Match against
Manchester United in the
League Cup, a game Chelsea won 5–4.
[22]
On 3 November 2012, Moses scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea in the match against
Swansea City, which ended in a 1–1 draw.
[23] Four days later, he scored his first Champions League goal for Chelsea against
Shakhtar Donetsk; Moses replaced
Oscar in the 79th minute and went on to head in
Juan Mata's corner with seconds left to secure a 3–2 win.
[24]
On 5 January 2013, Moses opened his scoring tally for the year with a
powerful drive into the bottom corner whilst playing in the
FA Cup Third Round against
Southampton, as Chelsea came from 1–0 behind to beat the Saints 1–5.
[25]
Moses scored his first
Europa League goal for Chelsea in a 3–1 home win against
Rubin Kazan,
[26] and then his second in the reverse fixture a week later.
[27] He continued his fine form in the competition by scoring his side's first goal in the 1–2 away win at
Basel on 25 April.
[28] He also scored in the reverse match against Basel when the Blues won 3–1 at home and secured their participation in the
Europa League Final,
[29] a match in which Moses did not feature but the Blues nonetheless won 2–1 against
Benfica in
Amsterdam on 15 May.
[30]
2013–14 season: Loan to Liverpool
On 2 September 2013, Moses signed for
Liverpool on a season-long loan deal.
[31] He scored on his debut on 16 September against
Swansea City in a 2–2 draw.
[32] On 25 January 2014, he scored the first goal of a 2–0 victory against
Bournemouth in the fourth round of the
FA Cup.
[33] Due to the form of
Raheem Sterling during the
2013–14 season, Moses found opportunities hard to come by under
Brendan Rodgers, playing 22 games of which only nine were starts.
[34]
2014–15 season: Loan to Stoke City
On 16 August 2014, Moses joined
Stoke City on loan for the
2014–15 season.
[35] He made his Premier League debut for Stoke City on 30 August in a 1–0 win away at
Manchester City.
[36] In Stoke's 1–0 win over
Newcastle United on 29 September, Moses provided the assist for the lone goal scored by
Peter Crouch and was voted
Man of the Match for his performance.
[37] On 19 October, in a 2–1 win against
Swansea City, Moses won a penalty after going down under a challenge from
Àngel Rangel; after the match, Swansea manager
Garry Monk claimed that Moses dived.
[38][39] Match of the Day 2 pundit
John Hartson also claimed Moses had cheated, but later apologised to Moses for his comments.
[40] Moses scored his first goal for Stoke on 1 November in a 2–2 draw with
West Ham United.
[41] He suffered a thigh injury against
Burnley on 22 November which ruled him out for eight weeks.
[42] On 17 January 2015, Moses returned to the starting line-up against
Leicester City, which ended in a 1–0 win for Stoke.
[43] On 21 February, Moses scored a 90th-minute penalty to earn Stoke a 2–1 victory over Midlands rivals
Aston Villa at
Villa Park.
[44] He also scored in a 2–0 victory over
Everton on 4 March.
[45]
With
André Schürrle and
Mohamed Salah leaving on a permanent basis and on loan, respectively, it was announced that Chelsea manager
José Mourinho attempted to recall Moses back from Stoke mid-season, only for the winger to reject the move back.
[46] Moses suffered a hamstring injury whilst playing against West Ham on 11 April, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
[47]
2015–16 season
After
a successful season on loan with Stoke, Moses returned to the Blues and
made appearances in all four of the preseason games and scored once,
against
Paris Saint-Germain F.C..
[48] Moses made his first competitive appearance since the return on 2 August 2015 against
Arsenal for the
Community Shield when he replaced
John Terry in the 82nd minute. The match ended with Chelsea losing 1–0.
[49] Moses was also included on the bench during the first game of the season against
Swansea City, although he did not make an appearance as Chelsea drew 2–2.
[50]
Loan to West Ham United
On 1 September 2015, Moses joined
West Ham United on a season-long loan.
[51] Before joining West Ham United on loan, Moses signed a new four-year contract, which will keep him at Chelsea until 2019.
[52] Moses made his West Ham debut on 14 September in a 2–0 home win against
Newcastle United, where he was named Man of the Match.
[53] In his second game, on 19 September away against
Manchester City, Moses scored his only West Ham goal, in a 1–2 win.
[54] On 5 December, during the match against Manchester United, Moses suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out until February.
[55]
Moses with Chelsea in 2017
In April, it was revealed that the loan deal also had an option to
make the move permanent at the end of the season, but West Ham decided
to turn down the option.
[56]
2016–17 season: Return to Chelsea
After impressing new manager
Antonio Conte
during preseason, Moses was included in the first-team squad. On 15
August 2016, Moses played his first league game for Chelsea in three
years, coming off the bench for
Eden Hazard against
West Ham United in a 2–1 win.
[57] On 23 August, Moses made his first start and scored his first goal since his return, in the Second round of the
EFL Cup against
Bristol Rovers in a 3–2 victory.
[58]
After back to back league defeats, Conte converted into a
3–4–3 formation with Moses playing as a right-sided
wing-back in the following match against
Hull City. His performance as a wing-back helped Chelsea to a 2–0 victory and also earned him the Man of the Match.
[59] On 15 October 2016, Moses scored his second league goal of the season against
Leicester City in a 3–0 home win.
[60] On 26 November 2016, Moses scored the winner in a 2–1 victory against
Tottenham Hotspur and was named the Man of the Match.
[61] Moses played 40 games in all competitions for Chelsea in the 2016-17 season, scoring four goals.
[62]
With Chelsea winning the Premier League title, Moses became the
Nigerian player with the most Premier League appearances for a title
winning team.
[63] On 27 May 2017, he played in the
2017 FA Cup Final against
Arsenal which Chelsea lost 2–1. Having been booked for a foul on
Danny Welbeck he was given a second booking, resulting in a red card, after diving in the
penalty area. He became the fifth player to be sent off in an FA Cup final.
[64]
International career
England
U-16 and U-17 level
Despite originally hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, Moses initially chose to represent his adopted home of
England, featuring for the
under-16 team, in which he won the
Victory Shield in 2005, and
under-17 level. He travelled with the squad to the
2007 UEFA European U-17 Championship in Belgium, scoring three times (including the only goal in the semi-final win over
France) to help
John Peacock's side to the competition final, where they were narrowly beaten by a single goal by
Spain, though Moses managed to finish as the competition's top scorer and collect the Golden Boot for doing so.
That same summer, the squad travelled to
South Korea for the
FIFA U-17 World Cup. Moses finished as the Young Lions' top scorer, netting three times in the
Group B fixtures, but sustained an injury in the victory over
Brazil that ruled him out of the competition. Moses' teammates went on to reach the
quarterfinal stage.
U-19s
Following that tournament, Moses was promoted to the
under-18 squad, and following his goalscoring exploits for
Crystal Palace's first-team, he was promoted to the
under-19 side without appearing sufficiently for the U-18s to actually collect a cap. He went with the U-19s to the
2008 UEFA European U-19 Championship in the
Czech Republic, playing two matches and picking up one assist as the Young Lions failed to make it out of
Group B. Speculation grew as manager
Stuart Pearce snubbed him that Moses would return to play for
Nigeria in the
2010 FIFA World Cup—this move never materialised.
U-21s
Moses was promoted to the under-21 squad at the beginning of the
2010–11 season and made his debut against Uzbekistan in a 2–0 win.
[65]
Nigeria
Moses was selected to play for
Nigeria against
Guatemala in February 2011, but the friendly was cancelled.
[66] He then accepted a call-up in March 2011 for Nigeria's games against
Ethiopia and
Kenya.
[67] However, he was ruled out of those games because his application to
FIFA to switch nationalities was not received in time. It was announced on 1 November 2011 that FIFA had cleared both Moses and
Shola Ameobi to play for Nigeria.
[68] Moses was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations,
scoring two penalties in their final group stage game against Ethiopia,
which Nigeria needed to win to go through. For the second, Ethiopian
goalkeeper
Sisay Bancha
was given his second booking in the events leading to the penalty and
was sent off. Ethiopia had already used all three substitutes so their
holding midfielder went in goal, and missed Moses' penalty. The game
ended 2–0. Nigeria went on to win the tournament, their third such
title. Moses started in the final and played the entire game.
[69]
Moses was selected for Nigeria's squad for the
2014 FIFA World Cup and started in their opening group match and the Round of 16 match against
France as they lost 2–0.
Upon
Gernot Rohr's assumption as
Nigeria's head coach in August 2016, Moses featured regularly in the
FIFA 2018 qualifying matches.
[70] Moses scored a brace for
Nigeria during a
FIFA 2018 qualifying match against
Algeria in November 2016, helping them secure a 3–1 victory.
[71]
Personal life
Moses grew up supporting
Arsenal.
[72] He has a son, Brentley, (born 2012) and a daughter, Nyah, (born 2015).
[73][74]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 22 April 2017[75][76]