Juventus midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah has revealed that Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi and Black Stars coach Avram grant begged him to play for his country at the 2017 Africa Cup Nations.
Ghana coach Avram Grant was desperate for the midfielder to play for the Black Stars at the tournament in Gabon to aid their title challenge.
This led to the coach leading the way to convince Asamoah to return to the Black Stars after a two-year absence.
With the efforts of the coaching not yielding any results, Nyantakyi took his turn to convince the player.
“The Coach [Avram Grant] and the President of the Federation [Kwesi Nyantakyi] called me many times, and I told them how much I’d have liked to go," Asamoah admitted in an interview with JTV.
The talented player said even though it was difficult to reject the Black Stars he felt the right way to recover fully from a career threatening is to stay with the Serie A side.
Asamoah decided not to play for Ghana at the tournament even though coach Avram Grant had wanted to make him a key part of the Black Stars for the tournament in Gabon.
Two years on the sidelines because of the knee injury looks to have taken its tolls of his career with moments of fear that he could lose his position in Juventus.
One month away playing for Ghana in Africa's flagship competition could hurt his chances of gaining a place in Juventus while the uncertainty over his full recovery from injury lingers.
The Black Stars will start their Africa Cup of Nations challenge next week when they take on Uganda in their opening Group D game.
They will take on Egypt and Mali in their subsequent games in the group.