Exciting young Ghana attacking midfielder Abdul Fatawu Issahaku will now join Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon on a permanent contract after a proposed loan arrangement for him to come via Liverpool fell through, Ghanasoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.
The 17-year-old will arrive in the Portuguese capital in the coming days to join the Sporting's Team B on a permanent contract and NOT on loan from English giants Liverpool, sources close to the player's agent have told Ghanasoccernet.com.
Complications over the agreement for the highly-rated to play with Sporting Lisbon on loan to be able to automatically gain the stringent UK work permit have forced the change in plans.
Sporting have now taken the opportunity to agree a permanent deal with the player to sign him to a five-year contract.
The amount involved in the transfer deal has not been revealed by it is expected to be about €2million.
Issahaku will train with the Team B of Sporting until he turns 18 when he can play competitive matches for the first team.
The latest deal with the Portuguese side follows Issahaku’s proposed five-year deal with English giants, Liverpool, hit a gridlock which led to Sporting taking full advantage to sign the youngster.
The 17-year-old was also on the verge of joining Bundesliga outfit, Bayer Leverkusen but the deal fell through.
However, the Portuguese giants Sporting Liston have now won the race to sign the enterprising forward.
Issahaku previously featured for the Ghana U17 team before gaining promotion to the U20 side to make his bow during the U20 Africa Cup of Nations at age 16.
He managed to score two goals and an assist in six matches during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tourney held in Mauritania.
The youngster was named the best player after the 2021 Africa U20 Cup of Nations tournament.
Following his blistering output, the teenager has been handed a debut call-up to the senior national team of Ghana by CK Akonnor for last month’s international friendlies against Ivory Coast and Morocco.
Black Stars coach CK Akonnor was expected to hand the youngster his debut as he prepares his team for the World Cup qualifiers in September.