When news of Ahmed Musa's move to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr broke, a case could have been made that the move represented a regression and should have marked the end of his international career.
There was no need to dig deep to reach the roots of their indignation; Musa was leaving a club in the Premier League, the most prestigious league in the world.
Not only that, he had seemingly sneezed at offers to stay in Europe.
Failing to win, let alone tie down a regular place at mid-level Leicester City was considered a let down for a player who was not only a senior head in the national team, but had worn the captain's armband, albeit for a short spell.
His case was made even more perplexing when he went on loan to his former club CSKA Moscow, and immediately walked into the first team, playing in European competition and scoring goals.
As if that was not enough, Musa had been Nigeria's standout player at the World Cup in Russia, overcoming the indignity of losing his starting spot to score twice against Iceland and seemingly put Nigeria on track for progression from the group stage.
After the summer that he enjoyed, there were surely expectations that Musa had done enough to either earn himself more respect at Leicester, or a move to another European or even English club.
Instead, the forward chose to take the move to Saudi Arabia, where the lucrative offer cannot quite disguise the mediocrity of the league.
It was up to Musa to prove that he still had plenty of football left in him.
The 25-year-old wasted no time in doing just that.
He opened his account in his competitive debut, the first leg of the Arab Club Champions Cup Round of 32.
Musa came on as a second-half substitute and found the net against Al Jazira on 75 minutes, and then took his scoring form into the international break, netting against Seychelles in a 3-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying victory.
Two games into his return from international duty, Musa hit his first career hat-trick, earning him the Player of the Week honours that were presented to him on Monday.
It's been yet another example of Musa's ability to dig in and fight back in the face of testing situations.
After domestic trouble affected his form last season, for example, he also lost his place in the Super Eagles starting team and even his spot on the plane to Russia appeared shaky for a time.
However, Gernot Rohr kept faith with his experienced lieutenant and was to reap rich reward as Iceland were dispatched in Volgograd.
Five games, four goals, one assist is Musa's scorecard with Al Nassr so far, and if he keeps up this current rate of return, he will surely justify his sustained presence in Rohr's plans.