Assistant coach of the senior national team, Masaud Didi Dramani says that Ghanaian players born abroad are not joining just to play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

He says that players who decide to switch nationality are not only coming to play  in the World Cup as it has been the situation in the past.

Worried critics who think these foreign-born talents are in for the good time have cited the unwillingness of these players born abroad to play in AFCON qualifiers where they travel to obscure parts of the continent.

KP Boateng for instance played at two World Cups for Ghana at the 2010 and 2014 but never played at the AFCON and barely featured during qualifiers citing all manner of excuses.

“Sometimes we think that players who are switching nationality are only doing so because of the World Cup. That is not what it is,” the former Asante Kotoko coach told Asempa FM.

He further explained the rationale behind the move by the Ghana Football Association [GFA].

“It is a culture that we are starting to make sure that now players who didn’t have the opportunity of playing in our youth teams or were born outside Ghana but are Ghanaians and can ably defend that they are Ghanaians just like you saw Tariq Lamptey and Inaki Williams.

"We see it beyond the World Cup. There are very young ones who are coming in now but they are for the future. We are not doing it just because want players to get to the World Cup," he added.

Five out of the six foreign-born players with Ghanaian parents or descent have now completed their nationality switch.

Ghana has been on the trail of a number of young Ghanaian players playing in Europe and elsewhere with the likes of Tariq Lamptey, Eddie Nketiah, Inaki Williams, and Callum Hudson-Odoi all on the radar.

The German-born trio of Stephan Ambrosius, Patrick Pfeffer, and Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer have all committed themselves to play for Ghana and their nationality switch has been completed in time to play for Ghana at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Tariq Lamptey's switch has also been completed with the Brighton fullback expected to be named in Ghana's squad for the Brazil friendly

The likes of Eddie Nketiah and Callum Hudson-Odoi are still mulling whether to commit to Ghana or otherwise with time running out, especially for Hudson-Odoi who has been capped by England.