Former Ghana youth star, Clifford Aboagye has opened up on why he failed to join some top European clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Barcelona and Manchester City.
The Mexican-based Ghanaian international disclosed that he was on the verge to join one of the aforementioned clubs after excelling at the 2013 U-20 World Cup but signing a contract at a young age blocked him.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder joined Serie A side, Udinese from Inter Allies in July 2013 at the age of 18 on a five-year contract and was subsequently loaned to Granada CF, linking up with the Andalusians also until 2018 and being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División.
However, the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup bronze ball winner admitted that he made a mistake to sign a contract at a very young age with the Italian side.
Asked about his feelings considering the quality of football he plays and his inability to be playing for the likes of Manchester, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid now, he said “I think sometimes there are some of the mistakes in the past because I had already signed Udinese contract before going to the World Cup. Sometimes when I think about it I see it as a mistake I made as a young boy. My manager was involved in all the issues and after the World Cup it went so well for me.
“Some of the mistakes I made was that I signed a contract at a very young age. A lot of clubs wanted to sign me but I had already signed a contract at hand and then it wasn’t possible because I remember that Dortmund and other top clubs wanted to sign me. I would have gone there and it would have been better if I had not signed a contract at a young age,” he stated on Original FM’s Super Sports Show on Friday.
He also added, “Some clubs like Manchester City, Barcelona and Sevilla all wanted to sign me. You know the criteria of Manchester City. Taking you young… But then even before the World Cup I remember that Barcelona and Sevilla also came. I was close to sign for Sevilla but as I was saying because of agency issues I couldn’t. I played in some tournament in Burkina Faso organized by Sevilla but because of me they stopped the tournament. They said they’ve already seen what they were looking for. We played about fifteen minutes in our final selection and the game was stopped because of me. Also, Barcelona were so close to me when we were playing the AFCON. They were always close to me but normally the agents involved… and at a young age I didn’t have the power over that. I would have taken better decision if I had played football for a longtime,” he stated.
Clifford Aboagye, Juventus midfielder, Pogba and Nicolas Lopez shared the podium in 2013 after he was named the third best player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, with Pogba winning the best player.
The Ghanaian player currently plies his trade for Liga MX club Querétaro in Mexico as an attacking midfielder.
