Former Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko player, Edward Afum, has expressed his belief that the current standard of the Ghana Premier League pales in comparison to his playing days.
"I agree," the striker affirmed during an interview with Koforidua-based Bryt FM, in response to claims of a decline in the league's standard.
Reflecting on his time with Kotoko and Hearts, Afum reminisced, "During my time with Kotoko and Hearts, you could see the league was very competitive. At the time, players were hungry to make names for themselves. You could see players from smaller clubs making waves in the league, a lot of players were performing well, and it raised the league. Players were able to get called up into the national team but the narrative has changed this time.”
He continued, highlighting concerns about consistency among modern footballers: "In this era, footballers are not convincing and consistent. A player can perform marvellously in his first season and in the following season, the same player will perform poorly or abysmally, and it's worrisome."
Afum noted a perceived shortage of top players in the league today compared to his era, attributing part of the decline to what he views as excessive media hype: "There aren’t too many top players in the league as compared to our time. The difference between our time and this generation is very wide. I will blame journalists for the decline in talent. Players are overhyped of late."
Afum, who had a less successful stint with Great Olympics, ultimately parted ways with the club.