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Charles Taylor reveals why he joined Kotoko from Hearts
Hearts of Oak were the reason why I couldn't realise my full potentials according to Charles Taylor
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The Kumasi giants broke bank to snatch Taylor for Ghanaian transfer record between two clubs and it created the most dramatic transfer in the history of Ghana football which did cost the latter about GHC120,000.
The midfielder has disclosed why he had to move from one rival club to the other in 2003 in what remains the most controversial in Ghanaian football history.
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“I had so many offers but they never told me but it was Jacob Nettey who rather revealed to me that the club had given my contract offer to Ishmael Addo because they thought I wasn’t matured enough,” he said.
He added, “It became evident at one point that the club didn’t want me to leave. But what broke my heart was when the club rejected an offer from Brescia. It was during a period Roberto Baggio was about to retire and they wanted me to replace him, so I met their then club president and Stephen Appiah to discuss about few things before finalizing the deal. The president called Nii Ayi Bonte and told him the club is is interested in me but they’re cash strapped, however, I could earn more money based on my performance and I could be even be transferred to Juventus because they had an agreement with them to trade players.”
“I returned to Ghana to prepare for the trip but I decided to visit Nii [Ayi Bonte] at his drug store at Okaishie before enplaning to Italy. However, he told me point blank that the offer from Brescia was paltry but they want me to go to Switzerland instead. I agreed because because I wanted the club to make some money off me. I spent three months in Switzerland without playing for any team and started bloating, and my brother whom I was staying with suggested I forget football and concentrate on venturing into business but there was no business to do there.”
“Hearts did not check up on me, so I decided not return to the club again should I arrive in Ghana. In that same period I had calls from some of Asante Kotoko board members which completely changed my mind, so coming back to Ghana the decision was already made to switch camp,” Taylor concluded.
Taylor was part of Hearts of Oak’s team that won the 2000 CAF Champions League, the Ghana Premier League and the FA Cup.
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