Asante's Ashanti deal on the cusp

The midfielder has been vocal in the past few days of his intentions to leave Hearts of Oak, where he has been on loan for the past year. "I have no ties with Hearts of Oak anymore. I signed a year loan deal with them and the season is over so I have reverted to my right owners Pure Joy FC," he had told Kumasi-based Angel FM, according to Footy Ghana.

Thursday could well be the day the deal is sealed, as talks are very advanced between the two parties. In Kotoko's favour is the fact that they are reportedly the only local club being able to match the asking price of Pure Joy.

However, SuperSport.com sources say that Asante's declarations of foreign contacts is also true, as he had said in an interview that there are "about two foreign offers; one from a club in South Africa and the other from Tunisia."

Love the football only

The player was always likely to leave the Phobians, where he clearly enjoyed the football, but not the surroundings. Sometime during last season, Asante had a public spat with his club's fans on social networking site, Facebook. Hearts fans had accused him of speaking to Kotoko's then coach Maxwell Konadu on the site, which they felt was immoral.

That was before rumours of tensions in the dressing room as well. It became clear that something was wrong in the second round clash between Kotoko and Hearts in Kumasi.

The player was subbed very early in the game, a decision ascribed to injury by coach Charles Akunnor. It turned out not to be so, according to insiders, who revealed the coach's unhappiness with Uriah's character.

"I just want a change. In life, there comes a time when you feel for a change of environment and everybody needs and deserves a change. You can stay at one place just like somebody moving from one neighbourhood to another for a fresh breeze."

If the transfer goes through, it could well become the biggest internal transfer of this off season.

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