According to Opta, a British sports analytics company, Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, ranks the fourth best dribbler in Europe’s top five leagues, Freelanews reports.
In one of the latest posts on Ligue 1 X handle quoting OptaJose, the Nigerian is only bettered by Barcelona wonderkid, Yamine Lamal, Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku and Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane.
Simon is in his fourth season with Nantes and has been one of the club’s most influential players guiding them to a Coupe de France title in 2022 to help the French club claim their first trophy in 2022 years.
The 28-year-old has been the club’s major outlet in the final third, and the vital part of his game is his physicality and prowess in one-on-one situations. A recent stat by Opta has accentuated this.
According to Opta, per Ligue 1, Simon is the fourth-best dribbler in Europe’s top five leagues. He has a 55.1 per cent dribble completion rate, and is just behind Yamal, who has 59.7 per cent, Doku, who has 58.6 per cent, and Sané, who has 55.5 per cent.
With Yamal playing in the Spanish league, Doku in the English Premier League and Sane in the German Bundesliga, it means that the Nigerian is the best dribbler in the French League, ahead of Kylian Mbappe, Jonathan David, Takumi Minamino and countrymates Terem Moffi and Akor Adams.
So far this season, the Super Eagles star has scored three goals and provided five assists in 18 Ligue 1 games for Nantes who currently sit 14th in the French top-flight, three points above the relegation zone.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
