There was an offer of 40 million euros from Chelsea. And also three assists and a goal during his first two games for Norway. Antonio Nusa (18) storms the sky, but his coach Ronny Deila puts on the brakes. He sees that his nugget needs rest. “Nusa is tired after everything that happened,” says Deila.
A goal and an assist against Jordan, and another two assists against Georgia. With a snapshot on Instagram with world stars Haaland and Ødegaard as the icing on the cake. Antonio Nusa – still barely 18 years old – was the topic of conversation in Norway last week.
Clever boy
On Thursday, Club’s golden nugget walked into the Belfius Basecamp again, because Charleroi awaits on Saturday. However, it is doubtful whether we will see him there at the kick-off. “Nusa is tired after everything that has happened in recent weeks. That is human,” Ronny Deila said during his press chat on Thursday.
There was also an offer from Chelsea of 40 million euros on deadline day. Club and Nusa refused. “It all requires a lot of energy from such a young guy. But on the other hand, Antonio is a smart guy, someone who takes the right steps. If there’s anyone who can handle all that attention, it’s Antonio. We will have to guide him well. Fortunately there is one good head op.”
Zone of truth
Nusa has already indicated that he wants to stay at Club Brugge for at least one more season. Even though crazy amounts and offers are offered during the winter. “I can only recommend him to spend the season with us. He didn’t play for the past two years, but now things are suddenly going fast,” said Deila. “At Club he will play regularly and he can develop. Also in Europe. That is important at such a young age. He also plays for prizes here.”
Even though Nusa is currently doing great, Deila knows his areas of improvement. “He has to become more efficient in the zone of truth. Deliver more goals and assists,” his compatriot nodded. “It went better in the last matches, you also saw that with the Norwegian national team. But he still has a way to go. Antonio works on that every day. I look forward to working with him further.”
Sabbe replaces Buchanan
Deila also recovered from some injuries at Club. Nielsen is fit again and Meijer is also close to a return. “Although that won’t be before this weekend.” Buchanan is out for at least four weeks. “Sabbe will replace him,” Deila confirmed.
Club believes in the young right back. Sabbe will now have the chance to prove himself from minute 1 for a few weeks. “He adds something to our game: Kyriani has already proven that. We’ll see how he digests the follow-up of the matches. Until New Year’s – with the exception of the international matches – we have almost no normal training week. Games, games, games. But I don’t think that’s a problem.”