Anis Hadj Moussa has responded cryptically on Instagram to the fuss over his absence from Feyenoord. The Algerian forward is not in the matchday squad for Saturday's away game at NEC, but has shown on social media that he is in Nijmegen after all. In doing so, he partly contradicts earlier reporting from De Telegraaf.
In his Instagram story, Hadj Moussa shares a photo from the Van der Valk Hotel Nijmegen-Lent. Alongside it, the forward writes the striking, cynical-sounding text: "It looks like home."
With that photo, Hadj Moussa appears to challenge part of the earlier reporting by De Telegraaf . The newspaper reported on Saturday afternoon that the winger was late for the team bus departure to Nijmegen and then went home.
His photo, though, shows he did at least reach Nijmegen later.
Hadj Moussa's omission from the squad has now been confirmed. Head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst has named his starting XI for the clash with NEC, and the winger is nowhere to be seen, with Gaoussou Diarra starting on the right and Luciano Valente on the left flank.
Behind it all sits an increasingly heated transfer saga. According to De Telegraaf, Ittihad Club contacted Feyenoord again on Saturday and raised their earlier bid of €37.5 million by several million.
That would take the new proposal to around €40 million. If Feyenoord still agree to a departure, it would be a club record in any case: Mats Wieffer and Santiago Gimenez both previously left for a fixed transfer fee of €32 million.
Instagram @hadj.a20