Crotone coach Cosmi: Simy is too good for Italian second division

CROTONE head coach Serse Cosmi has admitted that his Nigerian striker Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo will not go down with the club to Serie B.

Cosmi’s side are bottom of Serie A and look bound for a return to the Italian second tier despite Simy’s heroics.

The Nigerian striker has scored 11 goals in his last eight Serie A games and 19 goals overall in the league this season in his one-man quest to save the club he joined in 2016.

However, Cosmi is convinced bigger clubs with come for the tall Nigerian in the summer.

“I don’t think he (Simy) will stay in Serie B, he deserves to perform on stages like this (Serie A) or to go abroad,” Cosmi told Sky Italia.

“It is not easy to understand his potential if you’re not looking at the numbers: last year he scored 20 goals, this year he is close to scoring as many. The quality remains, he has an incredible coldness. He will leave Crotone to live a better situation. I think I should thank Ursino, Vrenna and his teammates who have enhanced him.”

Simy himself refused to talk about his future after scoring twice in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Parma.

“I am not thinking about that,” the 28-year-old said when asked about his plans. “I have huge respect for Crotone, the people in this city honestly welcomed me like a son. I cannot talk about the future right now.”