Hearts Of Oak Chief Executive Officer, Frederick Nana K. Moore has accused the local media of making the club lose several sponsorships due to negative reportage.
He bemoaned the rate at which the local press dwell much on negative stories then concentrating on the positives which will ensure the progress of the game in the West African country.
He disclosed that the Rainbow Club has lost many sponsorships from corporate bodies due to the consistent negative reports about the club in the media.
Hearts of Oak already have GOIL and StarLife Assurance as their fuel and insurance partners and UK-based Umbro as their official kit manufacturers.
The 2000 CAF Champions League winners also have partnerships with GTV Sports Plus, Financial Technology firm Cloud Africa, SAS Finance Group, Koflex Gym and Software and Firmware developers Bitsweaver Limited.
However, Mr Frederick Moore insists the negative reportage by the media is destroying Ghana football.
“If I tell you the number of sponsorships we’ve lost because of negative press you probably think I’m lying. We got a sponsor, close to a 4-star hotel who was prepared to give us free accommodation for 2-days for every home game and we lost it, ” he said on Kumasi-based Pure FM.
“Once the information comes out as negative, whether it’s true or not 50% of the people will believe and the other 50% will not believe it. I am hoping there will be a day where the press in Ghana will positively support positive news 90% of the time.”
Newly-signed Dreams FC forward, Joseph Esso has expressed his excitement after joining the Ghana Premier League side Thursday.
The 23-year-old joined the Still Believe lads in a two-year deal after parting ways with Ghanaian giants Hearts Of Oak following an unfruitful contract renewal talks.
His move comes as a surprise to many as several media reports suggested the Black Stars B attacker was close to joining Asante Kotoko.
Speaking to the club’s media after signing the deal, the ex-Ebusua Dwarfs striker said:
“words cannot describe how I feel at the moment.
“Honestly, it really feels great to join one of the best clubs in Ghana. I really admire how the club operates and I am excited to be part of the family.
He continued, “Dreams FC is fast becoming one of the best clubs in the Ghana Premier League, I looked at the club’s project and wanted to contribute and be part of the dream.”
President of the club Mohammed Jiji Alifoe also added “Esso’s quality and profile fit perfectly into our model and aspirations for the future.
“He will undoubtedly improve the team and we’re very happy he bought into the vision we sold him.
“At the board level we knew we have to go the necessary lengths to support management and the technical team to improve the squad and this is one of such.”
Esso will partner the likes of former Great Olympics forward Abel Manomey and Ali Huzaf in attack ahead of the 2020-21 Ghana Premier League.
Dreams FC new signing Joseph Esso has lauded the high level of professionalism exhibited by the club after joining them Thursday.
The former Hearts Of Oak Star man penned a two-year deal after leaving the Rainbow Club.
He expressed his excitement after completing his switch to the Dawu-based club.
“Words cannot describe how I feel at the moment. Honestly, it really feels great to join one of the best clubs in Ghana. I really admire how the club operates and I am excited to be part of the family, ” he told Dreams Media.
“Dreams FC is fast becoming one of the best clubs in the Ghana Premier League, I looked at the club’s project and wanted to contribute and be part of the dream.”
Joseph Esso has previously played for Ebusua Dwarfs.
Dreams FC is pleased to announce the signing of a professional contract with forward Joseph Esso for a two year period.
He becomes the latest profile player to join the Still Believe lads ahead of the upcoming 2020/2021 season.
Esso who shone for Ghana at the 2019 WAFU Championship arrives as a free agent.
The brilliant forward after putting pen to paper said “words cannot describe how I feel at the moment. Honestly, it really feels great to join one of the best clubs in Ghana. I really admire how the club operates and I am excited to be part of the family.
“Dreams FC is fast becoming one of the best clubs in the Ghana Premier League, I looked at the club’s project and wanted to contribute and be part of the dream”, Esso added.
President of the club Mohammed Jiji Alifoe also added “Esso’s quality and profile fit perfectly into our model and aspirations for the future.
“He will undoubtedly improve the team and we’re very happy he bought into the vision we sold him.
“At the board level we knew we have to go the necessary lengths to support management and the technical team to improve the squad and this is one of such.
He joins fellow newcomers Abel Manomey and Ali Huzaf in the striking department of the team ahead of the new season which is expected to commence in October 2020.
Hearts of Oak management led by the Chief Executive Officer Frederick Moore on Thursday paid a visit to the family of the late staunch supporter of the club, Shamo Quaye today.
Shame Quaye passed on in Kumasi last week through an accident.
Mr Frederick a Moore and his members who visited the bereaved family donated some amount of money and items.
His funeral is slated for coming Sunday, August 30, 2020.
A delegation from @HeartsOfOakGH led by the CEO, Mr. Frederick Moore visited the bereaved family of Shamo Quaye in Kumasi. Fare thee well Shamo Quaye!!! pic.twitter.com/CWmdBF1nBO
Chief Executive Officer of Hearts Of Oak, Frederick Nana K. Moore has disclosed that the club’s short term target is to win a domestic trophy and also conquer Africa.
The Phobians have struggled in the last decade, as they have not been able to clinch any major trophy. They last won the Ghana Premier League in 2009.
The only time the Rainbow Club came close winning a trophy was in 2017 when rivals Asante Kotoko thrashed them 3-1 in the MTN FA Cup final in Tamale.
Off the pitch, the club is currently doing well as it has commenced the much-awaited construction of the Pobiman Academy Project, and has also been given a new bus to replace the old bus which subjected them to public ridicule.
However, Mr Moore admits that the Fb club must begin to win laurels, which is important in football.
“We want to make sure that we lift a trophy in Ghana and conquer Africa and that is our big goal,” Moore said on Kumasi-based Pure FM.
“We need to be successful on the pitch because our core business is football and when we get to pitch, the question should be Hearts of Oak scored how many,” he added.
When the Pobiman project is completed, it will have a staff residence, senior housing unit, gym, training centres, laundry, swimming pool, lockers, toilet facilities, kitchen, as well as a dining hall.
“He can be a great player,” Fran Castano tells Sky Sports. “He is improving every day and you have to remember that he only played 30 games in Spain. Three years ago he was playing on dirt pitches.”
Nobody appreciates Mohammed Salisu’s leap better than Fran.
To Southampton supporters, this is their new £10.9m signing from La Liga – the Ghanaian centre-back labelled ‘the Wall of Valladolid’. But the Spaniard still recalls the shy boy who turned up for one of his first sessions at his African Talent Football Academy without even boots in which to play.
Salisu borrowed a pair from one of the goalkeepers. The rest is history.
“I was about to kick him out,” laughs Fran.
“But he caught my attention within 10 minutes. Salisu is special. Off the pitch, he was quiet and calm. He liked being alone or with three or four of his closest friends. He was very shy.
“On the pitch, everything changed. Character, aggression and leadership.
“He always wanted to win and he was capable of forgetting bad moments very quickly. His rapid rise has not been easy, but he has a very strong personality and knows what he wants.”
Fran’s own story is fascinating. Born near Madrid, he had a coaching career in his homeland working with young players at Jaen and Leganes before making the unusual move to pursue his career in Africa. He took up roles in Niger and Mauritania working with the best young talent around before realising his vision for an ambitious new project in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
“I was tired of working in Spain,” he explains. “The opportunities were limited and the salaries were low. I needed a new challenge and I have always liked Africa so I made the move.
“I had been working in Africa for five years and even managed to bring a player to Europe with the help of an agent. I realised that the boys were good, they had a lot of talent but their preparation was very poor. They needed better training, better nutrition and many other things too.
“In addition, I noticed that in Ghana, in any part of the country, even in the smallest town, there can be a great player that nobody has seen or given the opportunity.”
With the help of an investor, in 2017, the African Talent Football Academy was born.
Fran’s idea was to prepare the young boys in his academy for Europe – in every sense. Education is compulsory. Language skills are taught with the players learning French and Spanish. The focus is on ensuring that the subsequent transition will be as smooth as possible.
“We prepare them as footballers and as people,” he says. “We want them to be prepared for the day that they arrive in Europe. We also know that many will not make it and still not return home so we want them to be prepared for that other life that they may have there too.
“On a psychological level, we work on character, empathy, resilience, competitiveness. We have many talks with them so that they learn to express themselves and to give their opinion. We want them to be strong to face difficulties and to be able to analyse and overcome problems.
“We also arrange trips to help in orphanages. We clean the beaches. That is so they see that there are people who do not have the opportunity that they have and that they should never forget this.”
Salisu went through all of these experiences, while having access to top coaching. The idea was simple but demanding. He would need to be prepared for anything that was expected of him.
“Physically, they do not need a lot of work beyond the nutrition. Technically, we work on a lot. We enhance their strengths and we try to improve their weaknesses. There is an individual focus.
“In terms of tactics, we try to make them understand the game, be intelligent and be capable of making good decisions, but we do not really teach them any one system. That is not our main objective. We want them to be able to play within different systems and game models.”
Salisu stood out because he picked everything up so quickly.
“He understood everything,” says Fran.
“I was struck by the ability he had to improve. Every day he was a better player.”
All of which made him a candidate for a move to Europe and Fran’s contacts at Valladolid presented an opportunity for Salisu and two other hopefuls to test themselves in Spain.
“I knew the coach of the U19 team and contacted him,” he says. “He told me that the players could come and play there. I called many teams but nobody trusted what I was saying.
“He was the only one who trusted me.”
That faith was rewarded spectacularly.
Salisu needed to adapt. Despite the efforts of the academy, it would take time for him to be brought up to speed on everything from the language to the tactics. He was still raw but the talent was there.
Victor Fernandez, Fran’s contact, and a legend at Valladolid, had soon seen enough, advising the head of the academy to snap him up. This was a left-sided centre-back like few in world football.
“Everything that is happening I imagined was going to happen,” Fernandez has since said.
Within weeks, he was in Valladolid’s reserves in Spain’s third tier. When the club sold Fernando Calero in the summer of 2019, an opening in the first-team squad followed. The unavailability of two more defenders on the opening weekend saw coach Sergio Gonzalez turn to Salisu.
Valladolid won at Betis before holding Real Madrid to a draw in only his second appearance in La Liga. By the time that he was helping to shut out Atletico Madrid in October, the papers were proclaiming him a star. In February, they were linking him with a move to Manchester United.
Salisu finished last season having made 154 clearances – the third most of any player in La Liga. It has been a dramatic rise, his reputation growing quickly, but his feet remain firmly on the ground.
“Salisu is first and foremost a boy with a big heart. He is still shy, reserved and calm. He is a person who keeps his feelings to himself but he can also be very funny. He is very grateful for his chance.”
Southampton won his signature and with it, an ambition has been realised.
“Salisu dreamed of playing in the Premier League,” says Fran.
“I think the team is perfect for him and his own potential is still very high. Salisu will continue to improve, he just needs to play and be given confidence and patience. He can be a great player.”
As for Fran and the African Talent Football Academy, he is using the money generated from the success of Salisu and others to improve the facilities there. Two new pitches are being built and there will be new accommodation on site for the next generation of young stars.
“The generation born in 2004 and 2005 is very good. There is one boy, in particular, who could be the best player yet. It is time to grow and I hope that there will be other options with other teams in other countries looking to our players and trusting this academy. The talent is here.”
Asante Kotoko captain, Felix Annan has played second fiddle to Kwame Baah since returning from his nuptials with his wife Francisca in January 2020.
Media report earlier indicated that Felix Annan doesn’t get along with Kwame Baah after the former lost his position in the starting line-up to the latter but the duo later came out to refute such claims.
Baah kept Annan out of the Porcupines lineup in the truncated 2019/2020 Ghana premier league season since Match Week 4; a situation that triggered discussions in the media and brought division among the fans.
How it happened
Annan had sought permission to absent himself from the team in order to prepare for his wedding after Match Week 3.
Upon his return, he has had to warm the bench as Baah was preferred to him by coach Maxwell Konadu.
Baah however, kept the post in ten league games and helped the Porcupines to 5 wins, 1 defeat and 4 draws before the cancellation of the season due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Felix Annan in audio played on Nhyira FM earlier this morning revealed the touching message he delivered to Kwame Baah after the Black Meteors goalkeeper had taken over his number 1 slot.
“Kwame Baah doesn’t play himself, he is also a player. One thing I told him was that, I am not going to change, I will keep on being the Felix I am so don’t also change because the coach has given you the nod”
“The respect we started with and the respect we have for each other, let’s try and keep that because you and I are players so don’t let this change your attitude or anything towards me if I have a problem, it’s between me and the coach and I don’t have a problem with you because it’s not you that select yourself to be in the post for matchdays so don’t let that change the relationship we’ve had all along, let’s keep that respect and forget about the competition”
“Even if there’s a problem between me and the coach, let’s solve it ourselves and don’t involve yourself in it,” he ended.
Ghana Premier League outfit Ebusua Dwarfs have reached consensus with former Ghana Under-20 star Asiedu Attobrah over a possible move, according to reports.
The former New Edubiase United talisman has not been with a club since July 2019 after leaving Iraqi side Erbil FC.
Attobrah moved to Belgian side KV Kortrijk following his impressive performances during the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015.
The 25-year-old attacking midfielder is expected to use his vast experience to help the Mysterious Club when the 2020/2021 season begins.
The Ghana Football Association has set second week of October for the commencement of next season pending government’s approval.
Manchester City have been described as ‘hopeful’ of signing Lionel Messi in what would potentially be the biggest transfer coup of all time, but they may have to get creative with whatever offer they table for the Barcelona superstar.
Messi has informed his club that he wants to leave Camp Nou this summer and the wrangling over his signature has inevitably already begun. The player intends to trigger a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for free on his own request, but the club claims that option expired in June.
There are already rumours that Messi’s father, Jorge, has travelled to Manchester to negotiate with City. Conflicting reports, however, suggest Messi Sr. is in Argentina and that it will be a delegation from Manchester who travel to Catalonia next week to start the talks.
It has been suggested that despite Messi’s hope to move as a free agent, City would be willing to pay a transfer fee for the 33-year-old, said to be in the region of €100m to €150m. They are also open to including players like Eric Garcia or Angeliño in any package they offer.
Barcelona have been tipped to demand a world record fee, which essentially means any offer would have to at least match the €222m (£199m) that Paris Saint-Germain paid for Neymar in 2017.
City have already spent time trying to crunch the numbers into an acceptable outlay, crucially, one that adheres to Financial Fair Player regulation. The Times cites ‘insiders with knowledge of the negotiations’ to state that the four-time Premier League champions are ‘hopeful’ a deal will be done.
It has been widely shared that City are contemplating offering Messi a three-year contract, followed by a move to MLS in 2023 to join sister club New York City.
But the Daily Telegraph estimates that Messi could still cost the Premier League club £500m in total, once Barça’s asking price and his current salary over the length of the deal are taken into account.
The Times adds that Messi’s minimum annual salary at Camp Nou is around £78m and can reach £100m. But it is possible that rival suitors Inter could have an advantage because of a financial break in Italy allowing tax on income generated outside the country – Messi-driven merchandise sales, perhaps – to be capped at €100,000. City could face significantly higher tax in the UK.
