No Ghanaian footballer has ever earned an international cap while plying his trade at Celtic. The Glasgow giants have fielded players from Honduras, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone but never the west African nation home to 27 million people.
But that could soon change. Brendan Rodgers said when signing Ivorian international Kouassi Eboue in January that he was keen to delve into the African market for under-the-radar gems, per the Daily Record.
“There are also certain markets you can bring players in from to help Celtic and help Scottish football and Africa has always been that,” Rodgers said. “It’s always been a market where you find players who are hungry. Kolo Toure is the perfect example.
“Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal. In western Africa, they have big talent.”
And there’s one country in particular in that list that Celtic seem to be looking at with a great deal of interest. With Football Ghana reporting on Monday that The Hoops are interested in bringing in Al Qadsia defender Rashid Sumaila (below) in January, the six-cap ace became the fourth Ghanaian talent linked with a move to Parkhead in recent months.
The Mail claimed that Lorient striker Abdul Majeed Waris was on their radar prior to the summer window while the same publication has also linked Red Star Belgrade’s prolific Richmond Boakye to Celtic.
And, per Ghana Sports Online, Astana winger Patrick Twumasi also caught Rodgers’ eye when he scored twice against Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers in August.
As it stands, Mubarak Wakaso is the only player in Celtic’s history to have represented Ghana at international level – though he did not win a cap during his short-lived spell in Scotland. But with Sumaila, Twumasi and Boakye all on Celtic’s radar, could this statistic change in January?
Source: HITC