Black Stars coach, Chris Hughton, believes that good players leaving the Ghana Premier League (GPL) to ply their trades in foreign leagues is the main bane of the GPL, which ultimately reduces its competitiveness.
He voiced the opinion that players are frequently leaving the country in search of opportunities overseas because they want to compete in European leagues. Hughton discussed the causes of this ongoing pattern in an interview with the media after his trip to Sunyani, where he watched Bofoakwa Tano play Real Tamale United FC in a Ghana Premier League match. Hughton underlined that players from Ghana look outside of their own nation for opportunities due to the allure of European football and the desire to find greener pastures elsewhere.
“This is a question for every head coach in the last couple of years,” he told Akwaaba Radio.
“There will always be, of course, players that leave here [Ghana] and go and play in Europe and this is something that has happened for quite some time.”
“If you generally gauge the national team, the Black Stars squad has most of the players playing abroad.”
“This is always the challenge, this is a challenge for the local league, the premier league to be at level, a competitive one that, whoever the Black Stars coach is, can look at it and pick from it,” he added.
Chris Hughton recently led the Black Stars to qualify for the 2023 AFCON by beating the Central African Republic at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in their last group game.
Days later, Ghana beat Liberia 3-1 in a friendly match at the Accra Sports Stadium. Despite a late goal from Divine Teah for the visitors, the four-time AFCON champions dominated the match on home soil.
The win marked the first time that the former Nottingham Forest manager had secured back-to-back victories since taking over. The match provided an opportunity for Hughton to assess players who may not typically feature in competitive games.
Andre and Jordan Ayew, along with Inaki Williams, Lawrence Ati Zigi, Alidu Seidu, Abdul Salis Samed, and Osman Bukari, were left off the starting lineup. Instead, Alexander Djiku, Joseph Aidoo, and Nicholas Opoku formed a back three to defend Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, who started in the post.
The midfield was manned by Edmund Addo and Baba Iddrisu, while Kingsley Schindler and Abdul Hamid Fatawu were used as wingbacks. Ernest Nuamah and Mohammed Kudus supported Antoine Semenyo, who started at the top of the lineup. With the exception of a few errant free kicks by Kudus, the Black Stars took some time to get going and didn’t really contribute anything upfront.
