JUNE 26

Digital JUNE 26, 2020.qxp_Layout 1 6/25/20 8:39 PM Page 8
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
FRIDAY , JUNE 26, 2020
Asamoah Gyan leaves
door open for PSL switch
GHANA FOR-
WARD Asamoah
Gyan has left the
door open for
South African
clubs, insisting he
does not think about retirement.
Gyan, 33, is currently a free
agent after leaving Indian Super
League outfit North East United
FC early this year.
The Ghana's all-time leading
scorer has been linked with a
move to boyhood club Asante
Kotoko.
Having plied his trade in Italy,
France, England, United Arab
Emirates, China and Turkey, Gyan
says he is open to a swan song
move to the South African Premier
Soccer League.
“I still feel strong, I still feel
young. There is no day I have
thought about retiring,” Gyan told
Marawa Sports Worldwide on
Metro FM.
“Definitely yes, if a team from
South Africa are interested and
feel they need my services, why
not? We can negotiate and we can
have a deal.
“Yes [I don’t come cheap but]
it depends on the situation. I am a
professional football player and I
have to see a lot of things, I have
to value a lot of things before
making a move. But as I said, I
feel strong; I still have fire inside
me. Obviously, I am not in my 20s
but I feel I can prove myself once
again.”
The ex-Sunderland man has revealed
he was once approached by
a PSL club but the team did not
•Asamoah Gyan
show “seriousness” and no deal
materialised.
While declining to name the
club, he says talks were inconclusive
but he is still open to play in
South Africa.
“Yeah [I was approached by a
South African team] but it wasn’t
concrete. This agent thing like you
are here, you are going there, but
at the end of the day, I don’t see
anything concrete,” said Gyan.
“I like working with serious
people. When somebody wants to
make a move or when somebody
wants to approach you, the person
has to be serious.
“But I didn’t see any seriousness.
It was just talks, talks, talks
and I didn’t hear from anybody
again. Because it didn’t go
through, I don’t want to mention
the club but obviously yes, it was a
South African club.
“If it was a done deal that really
happened, then I would mention
the club. It was just talks,
talks and I didn’t see any paperwork,
I didn’t see anything. That is
why I don’t want to mention any
clubs.”
I want to play for Hearts of
Oak again —Prince Tagoe
• Prince Tagoe
FORMER BLACK and 1899
Hoffenheim striker Prince
Tagoe has said he would love
to play for Accra Hearts of
Oak again before he finally
hangs his boots.
Prince Tagoe joined the
Phobians on loan from Tudu
Mighty Jets in 2005 and went
on to become the top scorer
of the Ghana Premier League
with 18 goals.
He recently returned to
Ghana and was training before
the 2019/20 league season was
suspended due to coronavirus
pandemic.
"Hearts is my club. I want
to pay my respect to them.
The current players can learn a
few things from me," he explained.
Hearts of Oak have failed
to win any major silverware
since winning the league title
in 2009.
Many have attributed it to
poor management but Tagoe
claims the club has to properly
recruit talents in the coming
seasons.
"They should consider
dealing with real talents instead
of thinking that if a player’s
manager is financially okay,
they should help push him,"
he said.
"The scouting team needs
to really up their game because
a good player will come but
because they come with no
manager, even if he is good,
they will end up picking someone
else and leave him.”
He added, "Talent is being
overlooked, just look at
Charles Taylor’s story. We have
to go back to the days of recruiting
even at the colts level
and pick real talents."
Comparing Hearts of Oak
then and now, he said, "Most
of the players who have played
for Hearts of Oak loved the
team wholeheartedly."
"Previously, we travelled
across Africa to win titles but
the recent ones find it difficult
to do that. It is not because
they are not good but they
have to play as a team because
traditionally, Accra Hearts of
Oak is a family."
•Kurt Okraku, GFA President
SSNIT threatens legal actions
against Ghana FA
SOCIAL SECURITY and National
Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has
threatened legal actions against the
Ghana Football Association (GFA).
The leagues currently employ a
total of 70,672 players, giving the
breakdown as Premier League
(1,019), Division One League
(2,353), second and third division
league (43,700), Women’s Premier
League (600) and juvenile league
(23,000) but are not in the books os
SSNIT.
According to the National Coordinator
of the SSNIT Player Registration,
Nkoo Joseph, his outfit was
stunned by the numbers, hence the
suggestion they produce their
SSNIT numbers.
"We have written to the GFA to
demand the data of players of all
the Premier League clubs but there
was no response. We are happy
they have released the data themselves,
hence we will go there with
their own data to give us details for
us to register them," he told Kumasi
FM.
"We have registered only fifteen
out of the eighteen Premier League
clubs. We planned going to the Division
One League clubs afterwards.
"We had earlier taken legal action
against Ashantigold, which was
later settled out of court. It’s constant
we will take legal actions
against the GFA if they do not
heed our advice," he said.