Sheffield United striker Lys Mousset says he’s waiting on a call from Senegal national team manager Aliou Cisse.
Mousset was born in France but is the son of a Senegalese father – which is how he qualifies for the country. The 24-year-old actually represented the French at Under-21 level on eight occasions, scoring five goals.
Yet Mousset is unlikely to get a call up to the senior side by Didier Deschamps and is instead focusing on a different route into international football.
“I always wanted to play for Senegal. From a very young age, I always told my father that I wanted to play for Senegal. I am only waiting for the phone call from coach Aliou Cisse,” the forward told Record, as quoted by the Senegalese Press Agency.
Does Lys Mousset form for Sheffield United warrant call up?
Mousset arrived at Bramall Lane from Bournemouth in the summer in what was then a club record £10m fee (BBC Sport). That has since been broken twice by the arrival of Oli McBurnie and then Sander Berge.
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Mousset is currently the Blades’ joint top scorer in the Premier League with five goals. The Frenchman has also provided four assists to help the South Yorkshire club to seventh in the table.
Mousset has not started United’s last four league matches, though, as boss Chris Wilder continues to rotate his striking options. He didn’t even make it off the bench during the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.
As mentioned, that is more to do with the fact Wilder likes to mix things up with his selections upfront. It is not a reflection on Mousset’s performances, which in general have been very good.
He does face competition for a place in the Senegal squad, however. Mbaye Niang and Habib Diallo both play in Ligue 1 with Rennes and Metz respectively.
Bristol City’s Famara Diedhiou is also a regular. So if someone from the Championship is considered good enough, then surely Mousset deserves his chance?