The Samba Stars academy has taken a group of teenage players from Ghana to England in an unusual attempt to secure professional contracts, with clubs including Bournemouth, Everton and Manchester City among those offering trials.
The academy, backed by former West Ham and Nottingham Forest forward Michail Antonio, has spent two and a half months exposing its players to English football. While scouts regularly visit west Africa, it is uncommon for an academy to bring an entire group to the UK to play directly in front of professional clubs.
“The talent the lads have is incredible,” said Antonio.
“We created Samba Stars Academy to give young players in Ghana access to elite coaching, shape them as players and create real avenues into the pro game and show how much talent Ghana has.”
The academy is based in Kumasi and is developing a new facility in Bompata, just over 100 miles north of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Its approach has already produced opportunities, with Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester City, Charlton, Preston, Barnsley and Peterborough all taking Samba Stars players on trial this summer.
“The first two or three weeks it hadn’t sunk in, but then they saw the facilities we’d be [using] and the teams we were playing,” said head coach Freddie Okyere.
“They want to go and show what they can do. They are hungry, they really want it. I’m hoping there will be so much interest because we have so much talent here.
“With the facilities we will have in Ghana we feel we will be top two, top three [academies]. We hope we can bring the best of Ghana to Europe.”
One player to make the move already is midfielder Listowell Lord Hinneh, who joined Middlesbrough in February after a trial. The 18-year-old has trained with the first team since moving from west Africa to the north-east of England.
“When I came in January, it was so cold. Experiencing something like that for the first time was tough,” he told BBC Sport.
“Moving was a big milestone. It just makes me feel the dreams I’ve been having, thinking of trying to find myself in Europe to become a professional footballer.
“I feel the kind of dreams that I want, I’m on the verge. I’m on the way [to] becoming who I wanted to become.”
Hinneh, whose sister Groovy lives in Leeds, met the academy squad during their visit and shared his experiences.
“[I told them] what you’ve been dreaming about the future, it starts from here,” he said.
“Don’t just try, be so passionate. You need to play and enjoy it because you can have the success in whatever you’re doing. You have to just put your heart in it.”
‘A different side of professional football’
All but one of the 20-strong visiting party initially had their visa applications refused before they were admitted following a re-evaluation.
The players have been hosted by Brook House College in Market Harborough and trained at Harborough Town, who play in the National League North. They have also faced youth teams from the EFL and non-league football.
Their results include a 9-0 win over Dorking Wanderers, victories against the Under-21 teams of Sheffield Wednesday, Luton and Peterborough, and draws with Sheffield United and Barnsley. Their only defeat was a 3-2 loss to Preston’s Under-21 side.
Antonio watched the team beat Peterborough’s Under-19s 6-0 last month.
“You can see from what they’ve done since they’ve been in the UK – the results against top teams – that they have what it takes to play pro level,” said the 36-year-old.
“It’s great to help knock down barriers and give these lads a real chance.”
Seventeen-year-old goalkeeper Joshua Tetteh Tuwor said the visit had shown him a new level of detail in the game.
“The football [here] is very detailed,” he said.
“In Ghana we have the same passion but I’m seeing a different side of professional football.
“We are grateful to have such opportunities to train with elite coaches.”
Rob Newman, the former West Ham head of recruitment and Manchester City international scouting and recruitment manager, worked with the academy in Ghana earlier this year and has helped coach the players in England.
Newman, who played a key role in bringing Sergio Aguero to Manchester City, believes several Samba Stars players could eventually succeed in Europe.
“Hopefully clubs can see the potential,” said the former Bristol City and Norwich defender.
“Nothing will give me greater pleasure in six months [than] going to see these boys playing in a first team in Europe. I believe they are two or three months away from being able to do that.”
‘Everyone is depending on you’
Ghana have qualified for five of the past six Fifa World Cups, having never reached the tournament before 2006, and made the quarter-finals in 2010. At this year’s tournament, where they were eliminated by Colombia in the last 32, eight members of the squad were born overseas.
The Black Stars have not relied as heavily on diaspora players as some other African nations, although the Ghana Football Association has indicated it may widen its global search, a development that could affect opportunities for home-grown players.
For the young players at Samba Stars, the pressure to succeed is already significant.
“You have to have a tough mentality,” said 18-year-old striker Sherif Mashud, who has had a trial with Hungarian top-flight club Zalaegerszegi through his involvement with the academy.
“Back home everyone is depending on you, everyone is looking up to you to succeed, to come and help them, your friends, your family. Everyone is praying for you.”
The new English season has begun with six Ghana internationals on Premier League books: Mohammed Kudus at Tottenham, Antoine Semenyo at Manchester City, Brighton’s Ibrahim Osman, Ipswich’s new signing Abdul Fatawu, and Coventry’s Brandon Thomas-Asante and Caleb Yirenkyi.
Nii Lamptey became the first Ghanaian to play in the English top flight when he joined Aston Villa in 1994. Michael Essien has made the most Premier League appearances by a Ghanaian and won two titles with Chelsea.
Only Jeffrey Schlupp and Daniel Amartey have also won the Premier League, after Leicester stunned the football world by lifting the trophy in 2015-16.
“Back home we’ve got people you grew up with and you might miss them, but that doesn’t kill the dreams I’m here for,” said Hinneh, who names Kudus as his biggest inspiration.
He hopes to follow his hero into the Premier League after Middlesbrough missed out on promotion in last season’s Championship play-off final.
“I’m trying to figure out what the reality is, what the future holds for me and then just chase the dreams.”
