New signing Sam Morsy spoke to the media today after making his Barnsley debut in Saturday’s 2-1 away win at Preston.
The versatile and agile midfielder arrived at Oakwell from Championship rivals Wigan Athletic on transfer deadline day, securing a loan move which will run until the end of the 2016/17 season. The 25-year-old is looking forward to the season ahead after an extremely busy couple of weeks which have seen him make his international debut with Egypt, move clubs and make his Reds debut!
“It’s been a great couple of weeks to be fair, to get everything sorted and over the line; I’m delighted to be here. When I heard of the interest from Barnsley it was just an absolute no brainer and I did everything I could to get here. As you can see it’s been such a positive start and it’s a great set of players, great coaching team, and they’re just carrying on the success from last season.”
After playing a vital role in the Wigan side that won the Sky Bet League One title last season, Morsy was keen to stay in the Championship and despite interest from other Clubs, the Egypt International feels that Oakwell is the perfect place for him to showcase his skills and develop as a player.
“There was a number of other clubs interested, clubs from this division as well, but after speaking with my representatives and seeing what Barnsley are all about, it’s something which I really wanted to do.
“It’s a great team and you’ve seen last season the team spirit where they’ve come from, to get to the Play-Offs and get promoted, it’s a very talented squad. I’ve played against most of the players a number of times so I know what they’re all capable of and it’s so-far-so-good in the league. I think experience is important but at the same time, if you have that hunger and players wanting to prove themselves then it goes a long way.”
Having dual nationality through his Egyptian father, Morsy was clearly delighted to have made his international debut last week and feels that performing well regularly for the Reds will help his chances of securing more caps for his country.
“It’s a huge honour. That’s something I’ve dreamed of for a number of years, and it was an amazing feeling to play at the Egyptian Army Stadium (Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria), it was an unbelievable experience and I played with some top players as well. From there I feel that I’ve grown as a player and as a person.
“There are World Cup Qualifiers in October and if you want to play for your country then you have to be playing regular football. Here there is a great squad and I’ll have to work day in day out on the training pitch when the opportunity arises, do my best and hopefully I can get a starting place.”
Watch the full, extended video of today's press conference with Sam Morsy now on Barnsley Player HD!
