Former New Edubiase United midfielder Asiedu Attobrah has revealed the reasons he swerved Hearts of Oak to sign for Iraqi side Al Shorta FC.

Ghana's leading football website, GHANAsoccernet.com, exclusively reported that the former Ghana U20 ace has put pen to paper on a short-term deal to Iraqi outfit Al Shorta FC.

The 22-year-old was inches away from completing a move to Accra Hearts of Oak after holding successful training sessions with them; however, the deal could not materialize as the Phobians failed to meet his financial demands.

"Hearts of Oak were slow in the contract negotiations, that’s why I joined Al-Shorta Club in Iraq," he told Zylofon FM.

Founded in 1932, Al-Shorta are the third-oldest existing football club in the country. They are regarded as one of Iraq's best team and they are the only existing Iraqi team to ever win any major top-tier continental club competition, having lifted the UAFA Club Championship trophy in 1982 and being widely considered as the winners of the AFC Champions League in 1971.

They have won a combined ten League of the Institutes and Iraqi Premier League titles, and most recently won the league in both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons.

They have won a joint record three Iraqi Elite Cups (in 2000, 2001 and 2002), being the only team to win that trophy three consecutive times, and have also won all five editions of the Arab Police Championship, a competition for Police clubs in the Arab world, with the most recent being in 2002. Al-Shorta are the first Iraqi club in history to have signed an official deal with a kit manufacturer as Nike made their kits for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.