Cudjoe Fianoo, the former Chief Executive Officer of AshantiGold has disclosed a tactical move he made to prevent Mubarak Wakaso from joining Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the early part of his career.

Fianoo recounts on Angel TV that Wakaso who was one of the brightest talents in the Ashgold academy was haggling with the club over a new contract.

Intensive efforts by the club to renew the contract of a young Wakaso had all but proven futile.

At the time, Ashgold were negotiating a deal with Real Madrid for Daniel Opare through a Nigerian intermediary. In the course of the negotiations, Cudjoe Fianoo said he received a tip-off that Wakaso was almost through with a move to Asante Kotoko.

To prevent one of his crown jewels from joining a rival club for free, Cudjoe Fianoo then informed the agent of his rising star and asked that he be added to the Opare deal.

The agent, per Cudjoe Fianoo’s narrative, was initially hesitant but caved in following persuasive attempts from Cudjoe Fianoo and that turned out to be the story of how Mubarak Wakaso left the shores of Ghana for Europe.

“We were in a meeting trying to finalize the deal for Opare to Real Madrid when I got a tip-off that Mubarak Wakaso had finished negotiations with Asante Kotoko. So I told the agent that I could be in trouble because one of my budding stars’ contract was almost over and he had not been forthcoming on negotiations.

“I told the agent I had just been informed that he was planning to go to Kotoko as a free agent so I wanted to add him to the deal for Opare so that he takes him to Europe. For him to go to Kotoko for free, I’d rather prefer him to go to Europe so that Ashgold as a club will benefit. The agent was reluctant and he told us he couldn’t get us a deal beyond 25,000 euros and I accepted it. I insisted that he took him along. That is how Wakaso left for Spain.

“I was emotionally satisfied that we sold him to an European club instead of allowing him to play for free. We also enjoyed monetary benefits from his moves to other clubs,” he said.

Mubarak Wakaso joined Elche in 2008 where he spent three years as a midfielder. He then moved to Villarreal where he established himself as one of the best in the Spanish La Liga.

In his nearly twenty-year football career, Wakaso played for clubs like Espanyol, Ruben Kazan, and Granada, among others.

For Ghana, he has since 2012 made over 70 appearances for the Black Stars, scoring 13 in the process. Watch Sports Check with Black Stars player Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer below



KPE