Accra Hearts of Oak count on foreign stars to end 10-year league drought

The Managing Director of Accra Hearts of Oak, Mr Frederick Moore, is looking forward to the club’s new foreign signings to fill the void left by the exit of two key players, Joseph Esso and Kofi Kordzi, in the 2020/21 Premier League season.

He said the Phobians were building a team to ensure the exit of the two stars had no serious negative impact on their quest for honours this season.

Hearts lost Esso to Dreams FC following a contractual disagreement, while Kofi Kordzi has left Ghana in search of greener pastures with Qatari outfit, Muaither, on a one-year deal reportedly worth $150,000.

While the exit of these influential players will leave the Phobians lacking bit in attack, Mr Moore is counting on new signings from Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Nigeria to fill the void created and make the team very competitive again.

“We signed a lot of players during what would have been the second half of the season because we were preparing not just for the second half of the season but also for this season. We brought in international players, seasoned premiership players and I’m happy with the players we signed,” Mr Moore told the Graphic Sports yesterday.

“Our new midfielder [Abdourahamane Mamane Lawali] was brought from Niger, we’ve brought in another player from Cote ‘d’Ivoire, Eric Dizan, who is also a local national player, and another striker who once played for the Nigerian under-17 and under-20 sides; these will make our team very strong and competitive,” he added.

According to Mr More, the Phobians were ready to take up the challenge with the target of the Premier League title which had eluded them for the last decade.

“Our target is the same going into every league, to do the best we can and at the end make sure we are where we want to be.

“I am sure everybody wants to win the league, I am not sure there is any club coming to the premiership who doesn’t want to win,” he said about their Premier League target.

He noted that the challenges of players exiting clubs at a point would not be limited to Hearts.

“Some players would run down their contract and we have to deal with it. Most clubs in the world goes through these challenges so we are not different.” he said.

The Phobians will not drop their guards in the upcoming season and will treat any of the 17 other Premier League clubs as a threat to their ambitions.

“Every single club is a threat to our ambition and we have to face every club that we meet during the season with the same determination as we’ll do with any other club,” he emphasised.