Uyo, 25 September 2026. Nigeria came from behind to beat Madagascar 2-1, and Moses Simon walked off the Godswill Akpabio pitch with his 100th Super Eagles cap. Fans still ask a simpler question about the winger from Kaduna: what does he actually earn?
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Moses Daddy-Ajala Simon |
| Born | 12 July 1995 |
| Origin | Idoma, Benue State; raised in Kaduna |
| Club | Paris FC, contract to June 2028 |
| Reported fee | About €7 million from Nantes (2025) |
| Reported salary | €225,000 a month, per Foot Mercato (unconfirmed) |
| Nigeria caps | 100, reached on 25 September 2026 |
| Major honours | Belgian title with Gent, Coupe de France 2022 |
From GBS Academy to the Stade de France
He spent ten years at GBS Academy. A move to Ajax was agreed in 2013. It collapsed before he signed.
Slovakia came next. He joined AS Trenčín in January 2014 and scored 13 league goals in 33 games, which was enough for KAA Gent to bring him to Belgium a year later and watch him help win the club's first national title in 2014-15. Levante signed him in August 2018 on a five-year deal. Spain never clicked. He managed one league goal in 19 games.
Nantes changed everything.
He arrived on loan in August 2019 and the move became permanent. Over six seasons he scored 37 goals in 201 matches, according to Flashscore. The peak came on 7 May 2022. Nantes beat Nice 1-0 at the Stade de France to win the Coupe de France.
The Paris FC move and the money
Paris FC came calling in June 2025. The club had just returned to Ligue 1 after a 46-year absence. Simon signed a three-year contract running to the summer of 2028, and Foot Africa reported that the fee was never disclosed officially, with several outlets putting it close to €7 million. Sporting director François Ferracci told reporters that “Moses was a priority for us.”
The first season was hard. Afrik-Foot counted three goals and two assists from his first 23 league matches. No goal since November. He still became the second Nigerian after John Utaka to reach 200 Ligue 1 games, in March 2026. Former Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior took charge in July. So what is the Moses Simon salary? Neither club nor player has published it. The only figure from an established outlet is Foot Mercato's, which lists him at €225,000 a month, roughly €2.7 million a year, without explaining how it was obtained, so treat it as a reported estimate rather than a confirmed wage.
Net worth is murkier.
No credible publication has put a verified figure on it. Any total you see online is guesswork.
Family, Kaduna and the academy
Daily Trust described him in July 2026 as “originally from the Idoma ethnic group in Benue State,” born and raised in Kaduna. Some records give Jos as his birthplace instead. He features under Benue in our list of Super Eagles players and their state of origin.
He married Ibukun Sarah Adenuga in December 2015, Ripples Nigeria reported. Their second daughter arrived on 30 April 2020. “God added another princess to my castle,” he wrote, a moment we covered when Simon welcomed his baby girl.
The family's public project is Simoiben Academy, founded by Ibukun in 2015. It works in Kaduna and Abuja. Its best-known graduate, defender Benjamin Fredrick, moved to Brentford. “My wife is the president of the academy, and I am more of a sponsor and mentor to the young boys,” Simon told RG. The reason is personal. “I remember growing up in Kaduna, there was no platform to link young talents with European clubs,” he told the same outlet, and the academy he opened in Kaduna was built to fill that gap.
A centurion in green and white
His debut came off the bench against Uganda on 25 March 2015.
Eleven years on, he is one of five Nigerians with 100 caps, alongside Ahmed Musa, Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo and Alex Iwobi. Daily Trust put his tally at 12 goals before Madagascar. At AFCON 2023 in Côte d'Ivoire he was man of the match against Angola in the quarter-final, creating Ademola Lookman's winner on the road to the final. In Morocco he came off the bench in the AFCON 2025 third-place play-off, which Nigeria won on penalties against Egypt.
Eric Chelle named him again in September 2026 for the AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
He is 31 now.
What it means for Nigeria
The NFF has often struggled to keep senior players committed, and Simon keeps turning up. Acting general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme called him “a patriot to the core.” With players already moving from his academy to Europe, his influence on Nigerian football may outlast whatever Paris FC pays him.
This article was most recently revised and updated 24 seconds ago
