Asante Kotoko Ghana Premier League Championdom may spark marquee signings this summer
With Asante Kotoko winning the Ghana Premier League this season in style, running away with the top scorer award as it stand now, likely to clinch best player and manager of the season awards, a lot of stars in Ghana and Africa are expected to join the Reds for next season.
Like any other player who may want to mingle with the best club, Asante Kotoko’s latest triumph in the Ghanaian top flight may not ward off such a warrant with big stars willing to make moves to the Garden City of Ghana.
According to many other reports, top players in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Niger are weighing the options of joining the 2-time Caf Champions League winners only if the right offers are submitted to them.
While this is already a loud sound, the new Ghana Premier League champions will only further be strengthened and turned into a fierce side once the likes of Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Asamoah Gyan and Mubarak Wakaso make a sensational move to Asante Kotoko.
The former Black Stars players have also been linked with a move to the Porcupine Warriors this summer in a relaunch career transfer.
Agyemang Badu has been a free agent since terminating his contract with Chinese side Qindao last season keen on going back to Europe next term or the next two. There are plethora of African clubs who could offer the 31-year old the platform to relaunch his career but Kotoko’s conquer of the Ghanaian league that manifested in the first round has influenced Badu’s interest in joining Dr Prosper Narteh Ogum’s side.
Although there are no official confirmations from both Kotoko and Agyemang Badu but we understand a done-and-dusted deal is in the pipeline, and the Reds will add Badu’s name to the squad to be submitted to the Confederation of African Football by June 30th for 2022-2023 Caf Champions League participation.
Gyan, 36, also remain unattached since parting company with Ghana Premier League outfits Legon Cities at the end of 2020-2921 season. The Ghana legend nearly joined Asante Kotoko before sealing the Legon Cities move and he has alerted nothing has changed claiming on several platforms he wants to join Kotoko before hanging his boot.
It is understood that, since ending spell at Legon Cities, Asamoah Gyan and Asante Kotoko have been into talks ahead of a potential move, and this time- after Kotoko winning the league to take to Africa- will be the best period for Gyan to join the Porcupine Warriors if he means of his desire to play for the Kumasi based side.
Wakaso appears among the Black Stars players linked with a move to Asante Kotoko despite having a contract with Chinese club Shenzhen FC until December 2024. The Black Stars ace is understood to have a new challenge in his career but no official opinion has come from the player himself.
A report suggests that Wakaso draws on motivation from former national teammates Sulley Muntari and Samuel Inkoom moves to former Ghana Premier League champions Hearts of Oak. In that light, Wakaso is understood to prefer a move to Asante Kotoko but a deal ahead of next season now looks impossible after the central midfielder regaining lost Black Stars position.
Wakaso was overlooked in Ghana’s 2022 AFCON campaign in Cameroon and once again in recent 2023 AFCON qualifiers against Madagascar and Central Africa Republic. The snubs appear to have forced Wakaso to reconsider his future at Shenzhen, and prioritized a move that will get the Ghanaian media linking him back to the Black Stars.
Although playing in Asia or in Europe would get him talked in the media regularly but a top notch of Wakaso’s calibre featuring in the Ghana Premier League will get his return to the Black Stars quicker.
Historically and currently, Asante Kotoko is the first best two teams to offer the bigger platform in the local scene to play for the senior national team. And Wakaso may have explored this but Asante Kotoko will miss out on the Black Stars player after the 31-year old played in Black Stars Kirin Cup in Japan.
If Wakaso’s deal remains unlikely, Kotoko have become a side Burkina Faso nationals are willing to join next season. The Ghanaian side have been linked with a move for Cheick Omar Ouedraogo and a number, The left-back, 26, will see his contract with Premier League giants ASFA Yennenga expires this month 30 June but unwilling to extend.
The defender is said to eye a move to the Kumasi based club after an agent contact him. Omar Ouedraogo has been part of Burkina Faso national team for some time now and was named on bench in the country’s 2023 AFON qualifiers against Eswatini and Cape Verde early this month.
According to sources in Senegal, U17,U20 and senior national team players who have had limited playing time in their teams outside the country whom majority of them are in France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other parts of Asia are willing to join Asante Kotoko, a football agent has told Futball Surgery. Some of these agents have links with Ghana football.
