The Super Eagles captain is without a club after the struggling Baggies opted against signing him, and it is unclear where he goes from here
While fans and observers alike await the release of Gernot Rohr's latest list of call-ups for March's international assignments, the biggest intrigue surrounds the status of veteran forward Ahmed Musa.
The speedy winger is currently without a club, and while Rohr has been reluctant to show his hand and rule him out definitively on that basis, the decision will prove an instructive one.
It is a talking point that has been seized upon by ardent critics of the German coach, and were he to decide to retain Musa, it will no doubt be used both as a stick with which to beat him and as proof of his hypocrisy and favouritism, seeing as he has previously emphasized the primacy of good club form.