NEW GULL PROFILE

Sam Jones – @samuellejones

Sam talks about the newest Gulls Signing

It was a Fantastic Friday for the Gulls as three new signings were announced. The first was attacking right back Finn Tonks who came in on loan from Bournemouth, with former Youth team Goalie Matt Wonnacott as the second. The third, announced in a classic “but wait, there’s more” fashion, was former Dagenham midfielder and current Burundi international Omar Mussa. A man with a big reputation, this feels like a proper marquee signing and a sign of intent from both Bryn and Wotton. But who exactly is the new Burundian midfielder?

📽️ How about one more?#tufc pic.twitter.com/CHrRPGJREJ
— Torquay United AFC (@TUFC1899) July 26, 2024

CAREER SUMMARY

In a surprise to no one, Omar Mussa was born at a very young age. This time in the glorious land of Belgium. He started his career in the KV Mechelen Academy, making appearances for the U19 and U21 squad and earning Belgium U21 honours, but never made an appearance for De Kakkers. In 2019, he left the sights and sounds of Mechelen for the glorious surrounding of Walsall as he signed for The Saddlers. He struggled to make an impact at the Poundland Bescot Stadium and he was released just a year later, but found himself in Kent to sign for Dover. He only made 8 appearances at the Crabble before Covid curtailed the season and Dover’s result were null and voided (not that they would have won many anyway).

His contract with Dover expired summer 2021 and he moved down the English coast to sign for Weymouth for the 2021/2022 season. He made 34 appearances for The Terras before Dagenham snapped him up for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2022. His two seasons in East London saw him make 45 appearances across all competitions, scoring 5 goals in the process. He was released this summer and signed with the Gulls.

It was at the Daggers where he made his international debut for Burundi, in a side captained by former West Brom striker Saido Berahino. As his Dad had played for Burundi, he qualified to play for The Intamba, making his debut for them in a 3-1 defeat to Indonesia in March 2023. At time of writing he has had played two more games for Burundi, coming off the bench in a 3-2 win over The Gambia and a 2-1 loss to Gabon.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here he is scoring from range against Wealdstone last season. The less said about the keeping the betterL

And here he is scoring in The Daggers 3-1 win against Fylde from an almost identical position:

TALKING ABOUT OMAR

Weymouth Manager Brian Stock in 2022 – “For me, I’ve not seen a player with his amount of ability. There’s a lot he needs to learn, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot I like about Omar. We saw it with the calm finish. It’s his first senior goal. He got a little emotional with that and when you get the winner with your first goal, I’m buzzing for him.”

Omar Mussa was one of the most sought after prospects in non league 24 months ago

It really hasn’t worked out for him since then

Never expected him to be dropping down to NLS at 23

Hopefully a drop in level can reignite his career. Mussa at his best is far above this level https://t.co/Dj1puk3Mgv
— tomhwilliams23 (@tomhwilliams23) July 26, 2024

MUSSA STATS

DATE OF BIRTH: 20TH AUGUST 2000 – 23 YEARS-OLD

BIRTHPLACE: BELGIUM

HEIGHT: 1.84M

POSITION: DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD

INTERNATIONAL: BURUNDI, 3 CAPS, 0 GOALS

NLS 23-24 STATS: APPEARANCES 14, GOALS 2, YELLOW CARDS 5, RED CARDS 0

MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY

Most Likely To

Ooze class at the base of the midfield. Mussa sounds like a proper play-making number 6, who will look to dictate the play from the middle of the park. Expect him to sit in front of the defence, providing both defensive cover and impetus going forward.
Be on professional terms. Even though he has played on the South Coast before, he’s never come down as far as Torquay. I would be surprised if he is on anything but a Full Time contract.
Be our first player to receive a full international cap since Taiwo Atieno. Lets hope Burundi don’t qualify for AFCON…

Least Likely To

Score. He’s got like 5 goals in 81 first team appearances. He’s not going to set the world alight in front of goal.
Play every game this season. Forget about international call ups, he’s never played every game in a season. Whether that’s injury, suspension or something else, I doubt he’ll always be available.

CONCLUSION

Mussa has been constantly lauded for his ability throughout his short career, but has not been able to kick on. Looking back through Twitter (I refuse to call it X), there’s a bit of surprise that he’s found himself in the NLS rather than the NL or even the Football League. But, whatever the reason for that is he’s now a Gull. There have been rumours of attitude issues with him, but Wotton isn’t a fool. He has obviously decided to take a gamble on Mussa to see if he can get the best out of him and realise the potential he has. If he can, then this could be a real game changer of a signing.

It also feels like our squad is nearly complete. We now have 21 players on the books, including two goal keepers and about 11 defenders. It’s clear that Wotton wants to play a 3-5-2 and its abundantly clear to see where Mussa will fit in. We don’t have much width up front, or a competition for Hasani in an attacking role so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some loan signings coming in to plug some of those gaps. Especially considering the news that NLS clubs will be able to use five subs moving forward. Omar feels like a proper marquee signing, and I can’t wait to see him play for the Yellows for the first time. Only two weeks to go now till opening day, and I cannot wait.