‘Afena-Gyan’s camp turned down Black Meteors invite four times’ – Ibrahim Tanko

According to him, he spoke to the 20-year-old striker’s agent four times but was told the player wasn’t ready to feature for his side.

Last week, reports emerged that Afena-Gyan had rejected a call-up for the important two-legged U23 AFCON qualifiers against Algeria.

The Cremonese forward is said to have rejected the invite despite the Ghana Football Association sending all travel requirements to his club.

Despite his absence, the Black Meteors went on to beat Algeria 2-1 on aggregate to book their place at the U23 AFCON to be staged in Morocco in June.

Tanko’s side drew 1-1 with their North African opponents away before finishing the job in Kumasi, thanks to a 1-0 victory.

Answering questions on why Afena-Gyan wasn’t part of the squad that faced the Algerians, Tanko said he invited the young striker but was turned down.

“I did my list and added Afena. I don’t know why he is not here. I personally spoke to his agent about four times and he told me the boy is not ready,” the Black Meteors coach said.

Felix Afena Gyan Pulse Ghana

Meanwhile, Afena-Gyan was part of the Black Stars side that qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after getting the better of rivals Nigeria in the playoffs.

The former AS Roma star started both home and away games as Ghana booted out the Super Eagles on away goals.

He subsequently scored his first international goal in a 3-0 win over Madagascar in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier and was again invited for the pre-World Cup friendly against Brazil.

Afena-Gyan was, however, dropped from Ghana’s final squad for the tournament in Qatar and again missed out on Chris Hughton’s 25-man squad for the upcoming double-header AFCON qualifier against Angola.

Reports suggest the youngster, who has scored two goals for Cremonese this season, is yet to get over his World Cup snub, hence his decision to reject the Black Meteors call-up.