Lord Abankwa and Festus Mansaray signing the deal
From the era of the Baba Yara through to Abedi Pele to Asamoah Gyan, one that is without a doubt is that Ghana is blessed with loads of footballing talents.
But the grooming and nurturing of these talents remain a major issue with limited resources and avenues for young footballers to show off their talents.
It, therefore, becomes refreshing when a multi-national company teams up with a Ghanaian-owned sports agency to help these young footballers.
In March this year, Ghanaian-owned UK-based football agency firm Lodico Promotions signed a deal with Pantum Groups Limited to invest in talent discovery and development in West Africa, more specifically Ghana.
Last month, the CEO of Pantum Group visited the country to embark on a tour of getting abreast with operations in the country.
Festus Mansaray held a conversation with GhanaWeb and spoke about his impressions of the country concerning football talents.
He disclosed that the purpose of the deal is to give a platform for talented Ghanaian footballers to make a smooth journey to Europe and other continents to ply their trade. “We signed this deal to expand our scope in both Ghana and the UK. Lordico is one of the best and we have the same vision of unearthing and giving a platform for young Ghanaian footballers to excel on the world stage”.
Currently, they have two players on their books and Mansaray says they will in the coming days engage more players.
“We are working with some boys and we have a player with Hearts of Oak. I have watched them play and they are very good boys. We have a plan to groom the young players we’ve identified and then market them in Europe”.
The plan for the two agencies is to establish an office in Accra and expand their operation to other parts.
“We would open an office here in Ghana and start investing here. We will start here in Accra and then expand to the other regions hopefully. Ghana is one of the most talented football nations in Africa and we are looking to establish ourselves here before looking at other Africa countries”.
Having managed some footballers in the UK, Mansaray has a bit of advice for young footballers.
“Talent alone is not enough in football. You need discipline, determination and perseverance and that’s what we will imbibe in our players”.