KAA Gent and Nigeria winger Moses Simon will miss this summer’s World Cup after being ruled out for up to four weeks with injury.
The “Nigerian Ronaldo” injured his hip last week and the initial prognosis was that he would be out for up to six weeks.
A second scan in Abuja on Tuesday confirmed that initial prognosis, but he had to undertake further scan on Thursday in London.
The wideman played a key role for the Super Eagles during qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and had been expected to compete with Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa for a spot on the right side of Nigeria’s attack.
Super Eagles boss Gernot Rohr said just before the friendly with Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday that Simon’s chance of being fit for Russia were extremely slim, as the winger will need three to four weeks to fully recover.
Simon made 29 appearances for Gent in the 2017/18 Belgian top flight.
Nigeria coach Rohr will name a 23-man World Cup squad on 4 June 2018.