Representatives’ reaction to rumours linking Joseph Esso to Asante Kotoko
A representative of Ghanaian striker Joseph Esso, Mohammed Ali Wasiu has rubbished rumours the attacker has agreed a deal with Asante Kotoko following his recent departure from Hearts of Oak.
The 23-year-old surprisingly parted ways with the Phobians earlier this month over a lack of understanding on a proposed contract extension.
After moves for a sensational U-turn fell through, speculations became rife the striker has promptly switched allegiance to Kotoko, Hearts’ archrivals.
“He [Esso] has not agreed anything with any Ghanaian club even though all the top clubs are getting in contact with me, which is not surprising. [When] a player of Esso’s calibre becomes available, every club will be interested,” Wasiu said as reported by Allsportsghana.
Reports have been that Esso left Hearts following the club’s unwillingness to meet a GHC 50,000 [€7,360] annual wage demand.
“Money was never an issue in our negotiations with Esso, he wanted to sign for just a season whilst we negotiated for a two-year deal,” Hearts public relations officer Kwame Opare Addo told Fox FM.
“It wasn’t going to make a business sense for us to have signed him on a year deal. Since we couldn’t reach a compromise we had to let go of him.”
Esso joined Hearts in 2018. Last season, he netted three times in 14 matches in the Ghana Premier League which was prematurely terminated at Matchweek 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t want to talk about individual players but people are writing things that are not true. I hope and pray they didn’t get the facts from Joseph Esso, if so then it means they lied,” Hearts chief executive officer (CEO) Frederick Moore told Happy FM.
“It will be unprofessional of me to reveal the facts. The negotiations started not long after the Normalisation Special Competition.
“After my conversation with the player and his guardian, the coach and the Board members also spoke to him. The player knows the truth and the people around him should speak to him.
“Hearts of Oak had to announce his exit because contract extension talks had broken down.”
Esso was just one of five first team players who left the Phobians earlier this month on a free transfer, a situation which had brought the club’s management under huge criticism.
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