Questions have been asked about Simy’s absence from the Nigeria side since 2018, especially as he’s taken goalscoring exploits to another level with Crotone in the last three years.
In the three campaigns since Gernot Rohr gave the gigantic marksman his maiden Super Eagles bow, the 28-year-old has scored 14, 20 and is currently on 19 Serie A goals with four games to play.
This year’s return for a side that’s suffered immediate relegation to Serie B is magnificent, leading many observers to tout him for a return to the Super Eagles.
Be that as it may, the final decision lies with Rohr and the German tactician’s reluctance to welcome back the Pythagoreans’ frontman despite 53 goals in almost three seasons is astonishing.
“I know Simy very well, it was me who called him for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He performed well at that competition, after which he played for some time in the Italian Serie B. I have never forgotten about him and have always observed him, not just now that he is doing so well,” Rohr told Europa Calcio last week.
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“However, the competition is huge: we have [Victor] Osimhen, [Kelechi] Iheanacho from Leicester City and [Paul] Onuachu from Genk, who is very similar to Simy in terms of features and physical structure, without forgetting [Umar] Sadiq and [Odion] Ighalo.
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“So, it is very difficult to be part of the Nigeria attack, we have very good players. As I said before, I have never stopped following his performances, but I believe that next year he must go and play in a club and in a team that is stronger than Crotone.
“It will not be equally easy, but he would already have a better chance of returning to the national team.”
Admittedly, Simy is unlikely to get into the side ahead of Osimhen and Iheanacho in the first team, but it feels like an argument can be made to challenge the in-form Genk frontman, Sadiq and, oddly, Ighalo whose rumoured return to the Super Eagles persists.
Onuachu plies his trade in Belgium, Sadiq in the Spanish second-tier and the ex-Manchester United man in Saudi Arabia. It seems bizarre that the German is overlooking the fact none of the three features in Europe’s top five leagues, as opposed to Simy whose strikes have come in the Italian top flight.
While this isn’t expected to go on due to Crotone’s exit from the big time, a cursory look at Rohr’s initial Super Eagles squad for the last international break is telling. The 67-year-old included Sadiq in his original 24-player list with Onuachu and Terem Moffi placed on stand-by.
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Coronavirus restrictions in France and Spain meant several players pulled out, including the Almeria man and Moses Simon, but room still wasn’t made for Simy.
Admittedly, Onuachu and the Crotone man have similar physical attributes — and there’s been a tendency to include no more than one old-fashioned target man in his squads — Rohr’s assessment of the quality of the Pythagoreans is strange.
It not only diminishes the striker’s exploits in front of goal in the last few years — and particularly this season — but equally brings up inconsistencies in the manager’s evaluation.
While Sadiq’s age (he’s still 24) and end product suggest he’s got a higher ceiling than Simy, Almeria are currently playing in La Liga 2 and have been for six seasons, Onuachu’s Genk aren’t in Europe’s top five leagues and may not make next season’s Champions League and Moffi’s Lorient only just returned to Ligue 1 this term having spent three seasons in the bottom-tier.
Simy, by contrast, has featured in Serie A in three of the last five campaigns with Crotone and silenced doubters who thought he couldn’t cut the mustard in the competition by becoming Nigeria’s all-time top scorer, dethroning Obafemi Martins recently.
Be that as it may, the aforementioned trio appear to be higher in the Rohr’s pecking order of strikers, leaving Simy far away from a return from obscurity.
“I don't lose sleep over it, to be honest, and I only focus on what is professionally expected of me by my club. I won't say I am bothered about the Super Eagles. As a Nigerian I am a fan of the national team, we are all born to be fans of the Super Eagles,” Simy told BBC Sport Africa in April.
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“I share the same dream and ambition of every young footballer to one day represent the country, but it's not in my hands, it's not something I can control.
“I focus on the only thing that I can control, which is my day-to-day performances, improvement, becoming better every day, working hard and doing the things I have to do for my club. That's the only thing that I am able to control.
“What happens in the Super Eagles is out of my control. If it happens again, it happens and if not... life goes on. I am not worried.”
Simy’s improvement in front of goal has put him within one goal of matching his career-best return and two from setting a new personal best. Unlike the previous times he has scored 20 goals — 15/16 with Gil Vicente and last term — this year’s 19 strikes have come in top tier football, seeing him smash his return of seven in 17/18.
Without question, this ought to result in a Super Eagles return and it’ll be dispiriting if a forward in the best form of his career isn’t deemed worthy for a seemingly flimsy reason.
