Ex-Black Stars midfielder Ebenezer Ofori could join Vejle BK permanently after his loan spell at the Danish Superliga club expires in the summer.
The former New Edubiase and VfB Stuttgart player was loaned out by his Swedish club AIK Solna to Vejle BK in January this year.
The 26-year-old has so far made 10 appearances for Vejle BK, with his last game being the 0-3 home defeat to SonderjyskE on May 1.
Ebenezer Ofori in action for Vejle Boldklub
Vejle BK Sporting Director Marius Adrian Nicolae has ruled out the possibility of acquiring Ofori on another loan deal.
“Ofori is a player I was very keen to get to the club and it is clearly interesting to review the possibility of having him here permanently,” Nicolae told Fotbolldirekt.se.
“It is out of the question to take him back on loan, if we keep him, which we are interested in doing, it will be through a permanent deal,” he clarified.
Ebenezer Ofori’s contract with AIK Solna runs until December 2023. The ex-New York City FC man is the 100th most expensive player in the Swedish top flight, valued at €480,000 (5m Swedish Krona).
Aduana Stars striker Bright Adjei believes his Ghana Premier League Goal-King ambitions can only be realised through hard work, especially at a time when the Dormaa based club are struggling with goal scoring.
The 27-year-old attacker was on target for Aduana Stars in the 1-1 draw with Medeama SC in a GPL match-day 27 fixture on Monday, taking his goals tally on the Top Scorer’s chart to 13 goals.
With 7 GPL games to end the season, the ex-Tema Youth forward now trails the GPL’s leading scorer Franck Etouga Mbella with 5 goals, and needs a more consistent scoring form to topple the Cameroonian for the award.
Aduana Stars forward Bright Adjei
“Anything is possible with GPL Goal-King. We have 7 matches to go. I’m working hard to make sure that God can grant me goals match after match,” Adjei told Startimes in a post-match interview.
“Things very tough for us because if you look at Aduana Stars, we are even struggling to score, but I just have to work hard to achieve my ambition,” the ex-Tema Youth forward added.
Aduana Stars have been on a 7-game winless run and face a general difficulty with goal scoring. The Ogya lads have recorded just 4 goals in their last 7 league matches.
Antoine Semenyo of Bristol City is adamant that he wants to emulate former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan and improve on the latter’s record for Ghana in the future.
The 22-year-old Ghanaian striker admitted that as a young player, he idolized Ghana’s all-time leading scorer and the African footballer with the most World Cup goals.
Semenyo who is yet to represent Ghana at any level says he is hoping to be like Gyan.
“I would say Asamoah Gyan,” Semenyo said when quizzed on Happy FM about who from the Black Stars team influenced him.
“As a young boy watching Ghana, he was obviously the person everyone looked up to. He was the striker that scored the goals and as a young player for me, I also want to score goals as well so every time I watched him he scored goals and I was like, ‘I want to be like him.
“So I am aspiring to be like him and hopefully I can be better than him – that will come with time.”
Despite being approached by England to play for them, Semenyo believes it is only right for him to represent the country to which he belongs.
“England has come here and there but Ghana is where I belong,” he added.
“Those narratives [of black magic in the Black Stars] do not matter to me. I just want to play for Ghana and represent my home country.”
He is expected to be named by the technical team when the Black Stars begin their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers late this month.
He was handed a Ghana call-up to play for the Black Stars by coach Otto Addo but got injured at the 11th hour as he missed the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Medeama SC seized the 4th spot on the Ghana Premier League log sheet after holding Aduana Stars to a pulsating 1-1 draw in a match-day 27 fixture at the Nana Agyemang Badu Park in Dormaa on Monday.
Aduana Stars took the lead in just 2 minutes after forward Bright Adjei struck home a ball headed down into the Medeama penalty area by fellow attacker Yahaya Mohammed, following a long free-kick delivered from the boot of defender Derrick Afeson Boateng.
But, defender Fatawu Sulemana fetched the much needed equaliser for Medeama SC in the 32nd minute after firing in a super free-kick that stunned Aduana Stars goalie Joseph Addo.
The stalemate means Aduana Stars have failed to secure a win in the GPL in their last 7 games. The Ogya lads last league victory came in the 1-0 home win against Hearts of Oak on March 13.
Though Aduana Stars remain in 5th on GPL table, the Dormaa based club’s striker Bright Adjei’s early goal takes his goals tally on the Top Scorer’s chart to 13, five behind leader Franck Etouga Mbella, who faces stiff a hot chase from 16 goals rich Yaw Annor of AshGold.
Ex-Asante Kotoko Captain Joseph Hendricks has revealed that some Hearts of Oak big wigs in Kumasi attempted to bribe him 19 years ago, to convince 6-times Ghana Premier League winner Charles Asampong Taylor not to leave the Phobian club.
Asampong Taylor, who joined Hearts of Oak from Great Olympics in 2000, deliberately absented himself from training to force a controversial transfer from the Rainbow club to arch-rivals Asante Kotoko in 2003.
Charles Asampong Taylor at Hearts of Oak
“Charles Taylor consulted me before he came to Kotoko. Some Hearts of Oak big wigs in Kumasi drove me to Tech (KNUST) to persuade me to sign a document that I will influence Charles Taylor to remain at Hearts,” Hendrick told Kumasi based Kessben FM.
Ex-Kotoko Captain Joseph Hendricks at Kessben FM
“They promised to pay me money but I knew how much Kotoko needed him so I told them it won’t be possible based on how far negotiations had reached,” the ex-AshantiGold and Medeama defender added.
Charles Asampong Taylor at Asante Kotoko
After winning the Ghana Premier League in his first season at Kotoko, the 2009 African Nations Championship silver medallist secured a foreign contract with Etoile du Sahel and moved in 2004 for a fee of $250,000 but the ‘Terror’ Taylor returned to Hearts of Oak in 2006 after an unsuccessful stint at the Tunisian club.
France-based Ghana defender Gideon Mensah has acknowledged that he prefers Asante Kotoko to Hearts of Oak on any given day.
These golf equipment have dominated the Ghana Premier League since its inception. Kotoko and Hearts of Oak have received 24 and 21 league titles respectively.
“I’ll go for Kotoko not as a result of I hate Hearts. I’ve a pair of gamers in Hearts,” Mensah who performs for Bordeaux informed Footballghana.com.
“When I used to be rising up, my dad was a Kotoko fan and we had [Kotoko] calendars in all places in our rooms so I grew up getting use to Kotoko.
“Talking about the Nana Arhin Duahs and all these players so I think I grew up to take the steps of my dad so I wasn’t thinking about me going from that steps so I will just choose Kotoko.”
Kotoko are anticipated to win the league this season, as they at present have a 12-level lead over third-positioned Hearts of Oak.
They defeated WAFA for the primary time in Sogakope on Saturday, because of Franck Mbella Etouga’s excellent aim, snapping a two-recreation dropping streak.
The following day, Hearts of Oak dominated Dreams FC 3-1 in Accra, boosting their high-4 hopes.
Bristol City striker Antoine Semenyo is eager to use the Black Stars’ 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June as a platform to prove himself to Ghanaian fans.
The England-born missed the Ghana’s 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off against Nigeria due to an injury, despite receiving a call-up from interim Coach Otto Addo.
The 22-year-old forward is hoping for an invitation to make his debut for the Black Stars in the AFCON qualifiers against Madgascar and another appearance against Central Africa Republic next month.
“I’m hoping to come for the qualifiers in June. I am ready to go. I am ready physically, and mentally to play on the African continent,” Semenyo told Accra based Happy FM.
“I haven’t established myself to the Ghana fans and the Coach so I want to play as many games so I can show the people what I can do,” he added.
Despite making 30 league appearances for Bristol City this season, the ex-Sunderland attacker has hit a recent red-hot form, registering all his 8 goals for the club in 7 English Championship games since December 2021.
Semenyo will be hoping to translate this impressive club scoring form to the Black Stars when he finally joins the national team.
Hearts of Oak Coach Samuel Boadu has warned his players to guard against complacency ahead of their match-day 28 fixture at Bechem United on May 8, despite recording two straight wins in the Ghana Premier League.
The Phobians jumped to the 3rd spot following a vital 3-1 home triumph over Dreams FC at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, just one week after thumping Accra Lions 3-0 in a regional derby at the same venue.
“Two matches with six goals. That’s what we were expecting. That’s our hallmark but it got to a point that people didn’t see our goal scoring. We have a record going to Bechem but that doesn’t mean we should be swollen headed,” Coach Boadu told Startimes in a post-match interview.
Bechem United is still unbeaten this season after 13 home games at their fortress, the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park, where they have registered 10 wins and 3 draws, scoring 19 goals and conceding just 2. Hearts of Oak Coach Boadu explains his boys can only end Bechem United unbeaten home record if they play to instructions.
“We are going tactically to play well. If they (the players) stick to our instructions I believe something different will happen over there,” the former Medeama SC Coach added.
With 7 matches to end the season, Hearts of Oak now occupies the 3rd spot on the GPL table with 43 points, 12 behind leader Asante Kotoko.
The 2021/22 Ghana Premier League continued with matchday 27 fixtures across the venues this weekend.
Hearts of Oak moved up to the third spot on the Ghana Premier League table after securing a 3-1 home triumph over Dreams FC.
At the Len Clay in Obuasi, it was a goal fest as hosts AshantiGold gave Berekum Chelsea an unforgettable 5-1 walloping, with 4 goals from striker Yaw Annor.
Scores at a glance:
TECHIMAN: Eleven Wonders 0-0 Great Olympics
Man of the match: Joseph Bash (GK – Eleven Wonders)
SOGAKOPE: WAFA 0-1 Asante Kotoko
Scorer: Frank Etouga
Man of the match: Frank Etouga (Asante Kotoko)
OBUASI: AshantiGold SC 5-1 Berekum Chelsea
Scorers: Yaw Annor(4x), Eric Esso || Owusu Osei
Man of the Match: Yaw Annor (AshantiGold)
ACCRA: Hearts Of Oak 3-1 Dreams FC
Scorers: Afriyie Barnieh, Suraju Seidu, Abdul Jalilu(OG) | | Isaac Agyenim Boateng (pen)
