Hearts swindled?

The seething crisis within the fold of Accra Hearts of Oak is taking a disturbing twist following a shocking revelation to the club’s Board of Directors that a whopping sum invested in the recruitment of players for the second round of the ongoing First Capital Plus Premier League appeared to have virtually  gone down the drain.

The player-shopping drive said to have taken a toll on the wallet of the club’s Board Chairman and Bankroller, Togbe Afede VIX, ended up with defender Phillip Boampong, striker Exekiel Tetteh and Edikeu Berenger as the major acquisitions for the Phobians’ second round league campaign.

 But these recruited players might not be available for the league to the shock and disbelief of the board chairman, who is said to have learned rather painfully at the resumption of the league that none of the players signed for the second window was available for the game against Wa All Stars. 

The Phobians were hammered 3-0 in that game by the Wa-based side in one of the ignominous Hearts outings in recent times.

According to inside sources, Boampong, who was signed for GH¢45,000 (¢450million) left the country almost immediately after the deal and is now cooling off in the United States. 

The defender who returned from Europe after an earlier stint with Hearts in 2010, signed a three-year deal with his former club which badly needed a steelman like him to prop the defensive line.

However, the player left the shores of the country unceremoniously after signing for Hearts and is unlikely to be available any sooner.

The source further revealed that the case of Tetteh was quite pathetic as he  was signed from Division One side, Okwawu United, at a reported fee of GH¢80,000 (¢800million), but long before he signed for the Phobians, the player had been battling a chronic injury that had made his fitness and readiness for the Premier League  quite doubtful.

As for  Berenger, an Ivorian  import, the source said he was still struggling to secure a place in the Phobian line-up and did not appear to have the clout to command a first team place in the outfit.

But, Hearts Public Relations Officer, Muheeb Saeed, who refused to comment on Boampong,  inisisted Tetteh and Berenger have been training with the team and could feature for the Phobians if Coach Mohammed Polo considered them in his team.