Sulley Muntari returns to Hearts of Oak after short business trip to Italy

There’s been a lot of frenzy on social media as Hearts and Ghana star Muntari touched down in Accra, after missing out on his clubs last two Premier League games, including the super clash against sworn-rivals Asante Kotoko on Sunday.

Muntari has been in great form since joining the Phobians in February this year.

The 31-year-old is expected to feature for the capital based side on Wednesday as they clash with Sky FC in the quarter-finals of the MTN FA Cup in Accra.

When Muntari joined Hearts of Oak

Hearts of Oak completed the signing of former Black Stars midfielder Sulley Muntari after announcing the deal in second round of the Ghana Premier League.

Ghana Premier League champions Hearts of Oak had been linked with a number of local and foreign players. Sulley Muntari was one of them heavily talked in the Ghanaian media with a move to Hearts of Oak likely.

The former AC Milan and Inter Milan trained with Hearts that increased speculations that he could joined the Ghana Premier League side. The 37-year old impressed and accepted to pen a year deal with Hearts of Oak.

Muntari’s training with Hearts was in no way a guarantee that he would sign for the reigning champions as similar training sessions with the capital club over two years did not necessarily lead to a professional contract.

GhanaWeb revealed that the former Serie A midfielder trains with Hearts when ever he comes for holidays in Ghana.

In 2019, Muntari revealed that he was only training with Hearts to keep his form for European move which eventually saw the former Black Stars midfielder joined Spanish side Albacete.

A year before the Albacete move, the Ghanaian International joined Deportivo de La Coruna but failed to net in 8 league appearances.

Since parting company with Albacete, Muntari was linked with a move to South African Premier Soccer League and a move to favorites Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns failed due to differences between the Ghanaian and PSL clubs.

“He has given me a mandate to talk to clubs in South Africa. He is very keen to play in the PSL next season”, Munatri South African agent Sipho Shaven told KickOff reported in Futball Surgery.

“I will be engaging with a few clubs in the next few days to see if there is a chance to bring him to South Africa next season.

“Remember, our league is well respected on the continent and a high-profile player will not turn down an opportunity to play in the PSL.

“He is currently training with Liberty in his home country to keep himself fit. He is a free agent.”

Despite Muntari willing to move to South Africa, the Ghanaian demanded huge sum R15million that came as blow collapsing the transfer to South Africa PSL top clubs according to Soccer Laduma.

“There’s a problem regarding Muntari’s proposed PSL move. The player’s demands are too high for the local market,” said a source to Soccer Laduma.

“The guy is demanding around R15 million per annum. The clubs that his representatives have spoken to so far in the PSL have pulled out because of the player’s salary demands,” the source told Soccer Laduma quoted in Futball Surgery.

With the PSL deal collapsing, Hearts of Oak became favourites to land Muntari though since 2019 to 2022 has been a long period. Once becoming a free agent, Muntari began training with Hearts of Oak in January in attempt to return to the local scene.

Talks reached height and Muntari signed a year deal with Hearts on Monday, 31st January where a source told Futball Surgery that the deal would be announced on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, Hearts finally announced the signing of Muntari on their twitter handle saying Sulley Muntari is a full Phobian.

Muntari’s abilities first came to light in youth tournaments, while he was playing for Liberty Professionals youth team. He became a regular member of Ghana under-20 team at the age of 16 as they finished runners-up at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, losing out to the hosts in the final.

He joined Udinese in 2001, where his first season was spent in the reserves. He made his first-team debut on 6 November 2002, against Milan.

In his second full season, he made 23 appearances, and increased his standing to 33 appearances the following season, although indiscipline saw him sent off three times in 16 matches in the 2006–07 season.

On 2 March 2007, it was reported in the Italian press that Inter Milan were preparing a summer offer for the Ghanaian International and finally succeeded in luring him.

Muntari won the UEFA Champions League with Inter in 2010 under Jose Mourinho and played big part in Ghana’s 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup campaigns.

Muntari has won his first trophy for Hearts of Oak after beating Kotoko 2-1 in 2022 Presidential Cup in March.