ZAK ANSAH: A TALENT TO WATCH

Zak is pacy forward and a product of Arsenal’s Hale End Academy who has made his mark in the reserves.

The ‘94’ born is an exciting talent with an eye for goal.

Zak was forced to play out of his comfort zone at the beginning of the season in a deep-lying central midfield role for the Under-18s.

Zak, who is equally adept out wide or through the middle, made his debut for the Under-18s at just 14 and is also an England youth international.

His promotion to the second string was swift, however Zak soon became an established member of Neil Banfield’s set-up in his preferred advanced role before a knee injury cut short his season.

CALEB EKUBAN: A YOUNG AND PROMISING STAR

Caleb Ekuban is a 19 year old young and promising Ghanaian footballer who plies his trade for Chievo.

Ekuban who is a right footed centre forward, has been likened to Ghanaian-born Italian striker Mario Balotelli.

The youngster has been a revelation in Italy’s Primavera division has had an impressive scoring run, scoring 6 times in 24 appearances having come on as a substitute in 10 games.

DANIEL AMARTEY; CATAPULTING TO GREATER HEIGHTS

Daniel Amartey is young Ghanaian midfielder who plays for Djurgardens IF in the Swedish League.

Amartey started his career with Accra based Inter Allies FC until his move to Sweden.

He was spotted by Magnus Perrsson during his scouting trip in Africa when he was preparing to take over as manager of Djurgardens IF.

To help Djurgardens IF secure Amartey’s signature, Pehrsson managed to secure the transfer rights of the youngster.

Amartey enjoyed short spells with the club’s U21 side in both 2011 and 2012.

He then made his league debut in the 2013 Allsvenskan opening game away against Helsingborgs IF.

The youngster scored in regulation time for his side Djurgardens IF in the Swedish Cup final but was beaten 3-1 on penalties by IFK Goteborg.

Daniel Amartey in his first season at the club and has earned rave reviews for his exploits.

KWAME AMPONSAH KARIKARI; A DELIGHT TO WATCH

Kwame Amponsah Karikari is a former Ghana U20 striker who played for Inter Allies, Catania, Paganese on loan and AIK.

Karikari signed for AIK in 2011 and made 18 appearances during the 2011 season, during which he scored on two occasions.

Then he was loaned out to Superettan team Degerfors IF during the first half of the 2012 season. During his stay there he made 15 appearances and scored six goals.

In August 2012 he was called back to AIK. As he returned he came to score many vital goals for AIK in their Europa Leauge adventure, he scored against PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow.

Karikari attracted interest to himself this season with the Swedish Allsvenskan and also performed creditably in the Europa League. 

A number of Dutch and Belgian clubs are all said to be interested in signing the former Ghana U20 striker.

JOACHIM ADUKOR; A ROCK IN THE MIDDLE

Joachim Adukor is a 20 year old Ghanaian footballer who plays for Gefle IF in the

Swedish Allsvenskan. He plays as a central midfielder, but has also been used as a second-striker.

Adukor joined Gefle in July 2011 but struggled to get much playing time in a side performing over-expectations in the 2011 Allsvenskan.

After the winter break, he returned for the 2012 Allsvenskan season as a member of the first-team squad and will played a larger role in their 2012 campaign.

He made his league debut for the club on 17 September 2012, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat to BK Hacken.

Adukor played Ghanaian side Emirates SC before moving to Gefel IF.

ATTENTION ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT FOR GHANA SOCCER

From Accra and Algiers to Zanzibar and Zululand, Africans have wrested control of soccer and through the rise of different playing styles, the rituals of spectatorship, and the presence of magicians and healers, have turned soccer into a distinctively African activity.

For so many years, Ghana has produced quite a number of talented young footballers, many of whom attention has not been paid to.

Only a few like Michael Essien, John Boye, Sulley Muntari and Samuel Osei Kuffour have managed to make it through this miasma though the overwhelmingly majority, have either choked or remained what they have probably ever been.

The likes of Ransford Osei, Kwaku Essien, Tawrik Jibril have all been left to their own fate.

This was the same ordeal Christian Saba and Owusu Afriyie went through which led to opportunistic agents luring them into fairly money-spinning yet misguided moves which they could have avoided. Players when signing such deals do not think of where they will be playing, all they think of is moving out of Ghana to make more than they make here. Recently players like Dominic Adiyiah and Samuel Inkoom have all suffered from this menace.

Consider, for instance, the case of Ransford Osei, a member of Ghana's U20 squad that won the youth championship in Egypt in 2010. Ransford was the top scorer at the African youth championship and put up dazzling performances at the world stage, assisting most of the goals scored by Ghana. He was picked up by Sundowns of South Africa yet it appears he did not make any head way and has returned to the Glo Premier league where started.

FIFA originally organises youth tournaments; these competitions are to provide exposure for young talents to polish their skills alongside their peers from elsewhere.

This is where I believe our scouts are to be at work but what do we find? The likes of Robin Quaison and Danny Welbeck have all been lost by the country to Sweden and England respectively because the FA’s attention has only been on laurels.

In order to have advantage over our competitors more attention should be paid to aid the development of the players like what is done in Germany and Spain.