Musa to play for free at Pillars

Ahmed Musa will not be paid in his short stint at Kano Pillars in the Nigeria Premier Football League, Saturday PUNCH reports. Musa, 28, signed for the four-time Nigerian champions under the Elite Players Programme of the League Management Company, which encourages top Nigerian internationals to play for local clubs. According to LMC boss Shehu Dikko, the programme works in two ways. A club can identify and sign such players, or the LMC itself can sign the player and assign them to a club of their choice. It was the latter for Musa. “We spoke to him about coming back home to play, and as someone who is always ready to give back, he did not hesitate,” Dikko told ESPN. “Once the agreement was signed, the choice of which club to play for was up to him. A number of clubs wanted him. We put everything in front of him and he made the decision to go to Kano Pillars.” Musa has been a free agent since October 2020, when he left Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, with whom he won the Saudi Pro League title and Super Cup after joining them from Leicester City in 2018.