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Harrison Afful extends stay with MLS side Charlotte FC

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Charlotte FC have re-signed veteran fullback Harrison Afful through the 2023 MLS season with an option for 2024, the club announced Wednesday.

The 36-year-old’s contributions will go beyond the pitch during the Crown’s second season, as he’ll also work with the club’s scouting department as part of the new deal.

“Harry played an important role in our 2022 season, and we’re excited to have him back in our locker room for the upcoming campaign,” Charlotte sporting director Zoran Krneta said in an official statement.

A Ghanaian international with over 80 senior caps, Afful played 21 games for Charlotte during their inaugural MLS season following a seven-year stint with the Columbus Crew. His time in Ohio was highlighted by 6g/18a over 164 regular-season appearances and winning MLS Cup and Campeones Cup in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Afful’s latest contract allows him to slowly transition into a player development role as he enters the twilight of his career.

“We are thrilled he will be spending his time off the pitch with Thomas [Schaling], Lisandro [Isei], and our excellent scouting department to set the foundations of what is sure to be an excellent career off the pitch once his playing days are done,” Krneta said.

Charlotte have been relatively quiet in terms of signings so far this offseason, although they have reportedly inked Burnley midfielder Ashley Westwood and reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Racing Club forward Enzo Copetti.

Several players have been moved out ahead of head coach Christian Lattanzio’s first full season in charge – most recently striker Daniel Ríos, who was transferred to Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara.

©MLSsoccer

Hearts of Oak to sack four more players in January as club overhaul squad

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Hearts of Oak are reportedly looking to offload seven players during the January transfer window as they look to balance their wage books and trim the size of the squad. The Phobians are enjoying an excellent spell under Slavko Matic.

In 8 games at the helm, the Serbian gaffer has won 5, drawn 2 and lost 1. To give him every chance of success, however, there needs to be some squad overhauling done in the winter.

Already, they have lost Afriyie Barnieh to Swiss side FC Zurich and have parted ways with Mohammed Alhassan with a move to Asante Kotoko on the cards for their former central defender.

Hearts of Oak released Mohammed Alhassan last Tuesday and some players could still follow the exit door.

Richard Attah

The former number one’s talent has never been in doubt but the goalkeeper is finding it very difficult to become a mainstay in the Hearts setup.

Competing with Richmond Ayi and Eric Ofori Antwi is no mean task for the Attah. With an AFCON appearance under his belt, there is no shortage of suitors for Attah.

A host of clubs have been monitoring him and with regular minutes increasingly becoming hard to come by, a mad scramble for his signature is expected to ensue over the coming weeks.

Hearts are understandably keen to keep hold of the goalkeeper, but face a losing battle with his services.

Yassan Ouatching

​There remains a sense that Yassan Ouatching is perhaps not good enough for the club. Brought in to be a back up to bolster Hearts’ attack and give competitions to the likes of Kwadwo Obeng Jr and Isaac Mensah, the 23-year-old has struggled when he has played, often cutting an anonymous figure.

This has meant that Obeng Jr got less rest than what Slavko Matic probably would have liked. Then again, Ouatching is also perhaps better suited to a more direct style of play, a style Hearts haven’t played under Matic. Moving seems the best option for him.

Junior Kaaba

​If Yassan Ouatching has been bad, Junior Kaaba has been worse. So much worse in fact, that he was voted Hearts’s worst signing of the season by fans on social media. That in itself is a massive indicator on just how much of a flop the Cameroonian has been.

Signed for a stunning fee, the ‘Bull of Mbam’s’ listless performances have not come close to justifying his fee.

Daniel Kodie

Kodie rejoined Hearts after almost two years off the pitch. Questions were raised as to why he was registered for the season in the first place.

Though a fan favourite at the club, Kodie has yet to deliver on the potential he came to the club during his first spell, and he joined.

He’s not going to take Eric Esso’s place in the midfield and has not suggested he can do the necessary job in other positions, so his best option might be to move on.

Source:Phobianews.com

French side Troyes sign Ghanaian youngster Henry Oware

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Highly-rated Ghanaian youngster Henry Oware has completed a move to French Ligue 1 side Troyes, the club confirmed Wednesday.

The 18-year-old centre-back arrives on a three-and-a-half-year contract from WAFA SC.

“ESTAC is pleased to announce the signing of the first professional contracts of Tarek Issaoui and Henry Oware. The two defenders are now engaged with the Trojan club until June 30, 2026. The whole club wishes them a lot of success in Blue & White!,” read a club statement.

Oware was promoted to the WAFA first team at 16 from the club’s junior side during the second half of the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League season. He went on to feature in 21 league games as they got relegated at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Man City hands?

In April 2022, it was widely reported in the English papers that Manchester City had won the race to sign Henry Oware ahead of Barcelona, Arsenal, Salzburg and Lille.

The reports claimed that The City Football Group will pay €1 million for the services of the defender who had been scouted for two years.

Oware was to be immediately sent to sister club Troyes in Ligue 1 due to the fact he would not be eligible to play in England due to the strict points system for overseas players imposed by the FA.

The transfer was reported to be sealed in the summer but it rather happened in the winter transfer window.

Aduana Stars captain Bright Adjei seals move to Tanzanian top-flight side Singida Big Stars FC

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Aduana Stars forward, Bright Adjei has sealed a move to Tanzanian top-flight club Singida Big Stars FC.

The Ogya Boys kingpin who requested to be excluded from Ghana’s Black Galaxies due to a move outside Ghana’s domestic league has agreed deal with Singida Big Stars. Both parties agreed on 3-years contract awaiting paper works.

The 28-year-old is expected to fly to Tanzania this week to finalize the deal by putting pen to paper.

Bright has been in a blistering form since re-joining Aduana Stars in 2019.

He finished last season as the third topscorer in the Ghana Premier League with 14 goals for the Fire Boys.

The former Burgan SC striker in 10 games this season netted five goals for Aduana Stars FC.

With his vast experience, he is expected to improve the striking department of Singida Big Stars.

Hearts of Oak’s Premier League game against Tamale City reportedly postponed

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Hearts of Oak SC Premier league encounter against newcomers Tamale City have reportedly been postponed.

The match day 11 fixture which was scheduled for Sunday, January 8 2023 has been postponed due to Hearts of Oak SC inability to produce matchday squad. Management of Hearts have officially written to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to have their week 11 and subsequent matches postponed with reason aforementioned raised.

The Football governing body, GFA have accepted their request asuch head coach Slavko Matic has left Hearts of Oak SC camp to Serbia to visit family.

On Monday, Hearts of Oak managed to raise 17-players for their clash against Bechem United FC which they lost 2-1 at the Cape Coast stadium.

Players including Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Suraj Seidu, Gladson Awako, Konadu Yiadom and Dennis Korsah who are with the Black Galaxies made it difficult for the Capital-based outfit to settle down.

Samuel Inkoom, Zakaria Yakubu are injured and Enoch Asubonteng is suspended after his red card against Bechem United FC.

The FA will definitely communicate to various stakeholders as to when their games will be honoured.

Black Galaxies to play Algeria national team in pre-CHAN friendly

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Ghana’s local national team, the Black Galaxies will take on their Algeria counterparts in a friendly encounter on Saturday, January 7, 2023.

The friendly game forms part of the team’s preparations for the 2022 TotalEnergies Championship of African Nations (CHAN) scheduled to take place in Algeria from Friday, January 13 to Saturday, February 4, 2023.

Ghana arrived in Algeria on Tuesday, January 3 after a 10-day intensive training in Cairo, where they defeated Egypt U-20 and Al Ahly by 2-0 and 3-1 respectively in friendly games.

The team will continue their preparations for the CHAN tournament with a friendly game against the Algeria local national team on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.

Slavko Matic leaves Hearts of Oak’s camp after Bechem Utd defeat

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Hearts of Oak Head Coach Slavko Matic has left the camp where the Phobians are lodging in Cape Coast to his home country Serbia on reasons best known to him.

Matic suffered his first defeat after joining Hearts of Oak on Monday against Bechem United in the Ghana premier league.

Matic was appointed last year and went seven games unbeaten for the Phobians.

He is due to return to Ghana on Friday to assume his job.

Assistant coach, David Ocloo will take full control of technical affairs until the Serbian trainer returns.

Ghana captain Andre Ayew congratulates Afriyie Barnieh on FC Zurich move

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Ghana captain Andre Ayew has congratulated Daniel Afriyie Barnieh on his move to FC Zurich in Switzerland.

Ayew stated that the youngster deserved the first professional move of his career after the transfer was announced on Tuesday.

The two were Black Stars teammates at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with Ayew acting as a big brother to the now-former Hearts of Oak star.

The 21-year-old has joined Zurich until 2026, hours after Hearts of Oak announced that he had extended his contract with them.

He will reportedly be earning around US$12,000 as a monthly salary.

The former Ghana U20 captain made the cut in the Black Stars’ final squad for the global showpiece and was instrumental in the last warm-up friendly match against Switzerland in Abu Dhabi.

He has also been impressive for the Ghana home-based national team who are currently camping in Egypt ahead of the 2022 CHAN tournament which begins in a fortnight in Algeria.

The highly-rated footballer scored three goals in four matches to propel the Black Galaxies to seal qualification for the CHAN tournament.

He was also involved in Ghana U23 as he scored in both legs in their qualifying match against Mozambique a few months back.

Afriyie Barnieh signed for Hearts in July 2019 and went ahead to become a mainstay in the team having played an integral role in the club’s double triumph in the 2020-21 campaign.

‘Afriyie Barnieh will join after CHAN 2022 tournament’ – FC Zurich

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Swiss Super League side FC Zurich have confirmed that new signing Daniel Afriyie Barnnieh will feature for Ghana in the 2022 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) set to begin in Algeria this month.

The 13-time league champions announced the signing of the 21-year-old from Ghanaian giants Hearts of Oak following a successful medical on Tuesday.

Afriyie Barnieh signed a three-year contract with FC Zurich.

But the forward won’t start his stint immediately. He will be rejoining the Black Galaxies team from which he was excused to travel in order to complete his part of the transfer.

“Daniel Afriyie will join FC Zurich after his assignment at the current Championship of African Nations (CHAN), in which only players who play in the national leagues of their home countries are eligible,” portions of a statement on the club’s website read.

He is one of the assistant captains of the Ghana team which will be competing in Group C against Madagascar, Sudan and Morocco.

Meanwhile, the Black Galaxies touched down in Algeria on Tuesday afternoon – some 10 days ahead of CHAN 2022 kickoff.

Latif Blessing joins New England Revolution at a fee of $400k

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MLS side New England Revolution have announced that they have acquired Ghana midfielder Latif Blessing in a trade with Los Angeles FC.

The 26-year-old spent the last five seasons with the Black and Gold after originally arriving in MLS with Sporting Kansas City from Liberty Professionals.

Blessing played 167 games for LAFC across all competitions, scoring 18 goals and assisting another 18, while helping the club lift MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield titles.

The Revs have paid $400,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) for Blessing to join the Gillette Stadium outfit.

“Latif Blessing will be a very good addition to our team. He is a veteran MLS player with championship caliber experience,” Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena said in a club press release

Despite his quality and experience, Blessing started to find games harder to come by in 2022, starting just 16 of his 30 MLS appearances. Still, he was a well-loved figure among supporters and will be missed by the ‘3252’.

“This was a very difficult decision for us,” LAFC co-president and general manager John Thorrington said in a statement.

“Latif Blessing is a player who will always be remembered as an LAFC original and someone who helped build this club both on the field and off.

“His connection with our fans and community is unmatched. Latif approached the club requesting a trade, and we are happy that we were able to find a solution that helps Latif in several ways, including with a personal family situation. This is not easy, and we want to thank Latif for all of his contributions to LAFC.”

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